The Tigertail
by adoptpetz
Summary: Silver knows about mermaids- she saw Emma, Rikki and Cleo transform. In a desperate attempt to get away from her nightmares of drowning, she deliberately turned herself into a mermaid. The other three girls have found her out. Now what?
1. Chapters 1 & 2:Drowning & Growing a Tail

**Chapter 1**

**Drowning**

It had happened again. For the past week, I had dreamt that I was drowning, being pulled under into the unknown depths of the ocean. I had never been afraid of the water before. In fact, I lived on the beach. I swam in the open sea nearly every day without a care in the world. My nightmares, though, were becoming increasingly intense. I realized that they were merely images that my mind conjured from conscious memories to entertain me as I slept, but I couldn't help but wonder if they meant something.

I had a crazy idea when I woke up that morning after my nightmare. I wondered if maybe, I should just go to Mako Island. Maybe that would pardon my dreams. But no, the consequences would be even worse. Nevertheless, I discussed my thought with my pet lizard, Sylvie.

See, I have secrets, and lots of them. Sylvie is one of them. Sylvie is an aquatic ocean lizard I had kept a secret since I was seven. She's silver in color, with lots of fancy teal frills everywhere. She only has two front legs, though, both of her feet being webbed. I raised her from a hatchling when I found her washed up on the beach in the early morning mist. Knowing my parents would never let me keep a pet of any kind, I kept her hidden. I searched for any species matches online, but never found any. Sylvie was one of a kind, as far as I knew at the time, which made her secrecy even more important. However, one evening when I was going to show her to my best friend, Josephine, I realized my lizard wasn't the only one.

I planned to meet her at the mysterious Mako Island several miles off shore of the beach, where no one ever went and I could be sure we'd be alone. When Sylvie and I made it to the shore, Sylvie suddenly ran off. I loved that lizard, so I chased my pet through the dense forest until I tumbled to a stop in an underground cave. I caught Sylvie there, but we discovered dozens upon dozens of eggs buried in the sand at the bottom of the pool. I never disturbed any of them, for their mothers were keeping guard, but at least we knew there were more. Later that night, a small group consisting of three girls in their teens found their way into the same tunnel. Sylvie and I hid, because I recognized one of the blonde girls as Rikki Chadwick, a rude, kind of snotty girl. I wasn't really in the mood to mess with her. With her were Cleo Sertori and Emma Gilbert. Emma was the swim team champion. I only knew Cleo as the friendly but quiet girl a few houses down.

The girls weren't going back out the way we came in; they were going to swim out through the underwater tunnel connecting the pool in here with the open ocean. When they had all gotten into the water, though, the moon rose overhead, lined up perfectly with the open top of the volcano. The pool bubbled around them, and little sparks of light floated up towards the night sky. They dismissed it as merely 'creepy,' but I recognized it as something more.

I didn't dare take the pool's route out. I made the hard climb out instead, and went strait home. Josephine never showed, and never learned about my lizard. She did, though, nickname me Silver, after my endless stream of drawings of the silver lizard. I go by that name even today, and not many people even remember that I have another name.

I kept an eye on the three girls for the following week, and on one of my early morning sea side strolls, I caught Emma pulling herself out of the water with a tail. A tail, of all things! An orange-gold, long, muscular tail built for speed. I actually wasn't half surprised. I had let my imagination get away with me in paranoia, and was almost expecting to see them transformed into mermaids. When they were dry, though, they turned to water itself for an instant before their genes reverted back to human. I quickly learned that even one drop of water touching them would trigger the transformation. I had thought about going to the pool myself, but after much thought, I realized that it would be too much responsibility.

Now, though, my thoughts began to float back to the idea. Perhaps if I grew a tail each time I touched the water, my fears of drowning would subside. It was crazy, and even crazier was the fact that I talked it over with my lizard, but I did. Sylvie didn't think the idea was strange at all. She just tossed her head and motioned that she wanted me to pet her silver scales. She flicked her teal fins every time I talked myself into it as if to say, 'go right ahead. I'll be right there with you.'

Over time, my nightmares grew worse and worse. It had been almost a month since I'd last been to Mako. Assuming that the magic or whatever it was that gave them their tails only worked during the full moon, I would have to decide soon or wait another month. Once I woke up from a dream clenching my throat for air, I knew what I had to do. I had to become a mermaid.

**Chapter 2**

**Growing a Tail**

At the next full moon, I set out for Mako with Sylvie riding on my shoulder. She seemed to like the idea of taking our daily swims to the next level. I, on the other hand, still had my doubts. However, if there was even the slightest chance that I could get my nightmares to stop, I had to take the risk. This was getting to be unbearable. When I told my mom about them, she just waved it aside, saying that they'd pass or that it was a silly idea, me drowning, because of what a good swimmer I was. It was time to take matters into my own hands.

We pulled up on shore, and I hid the boat in case the other girls would be coming to investigate what had happened to them tonight too. Quickly scanning for another boat and finding none, I hurried along the path I had chased Sylvie through until we found the same cave. I slid down with better warning this time, and landed gently in the sand. Sylvie jumped off my shoulder and scurried through the sand to the pool. I covered over the path left in the sand from her wriggling, paranoia setting in. I didn't want to let the girls know I was one of them in fear of their reaction.

The moon was beginning to creep into view over the volcano, and the water began to bubble. I gulped, and searched for a reassuring glance from Sylvie. She nodded confidently, and plunged into the water ahead of me. I closed my eyes, and before I could chicken out, I let myself fall into the bubbling water. It stung a little, which didn't seem to happen to the other girls a month ago. My process was a little different. Then again, I had a different bath buddy. Sylvie glowed in the moonlight, and I wasn't sure if that was natural, or part of the procedure. Still, it wasn't the same as the girls, which made me wonder. To add to my thoughts, all of the eggs below me glinted in the light. Their rays all seemed to focus intensely on me. This is what made it sting, I think. Something felt like it was wrapping itself around my legs, though no tail had formed.

Then, it was over. Just like that, plain and simple. I climbed out of the water, and dried off completely. I looked over at Sylvie, who was grinning wide. I had a bad feeling. I tried to convince myself to give it a try, the transformation, but this time I let myself chicken out. I didn't want to know what it was like. I dusted myself off, and left strait away, much to Sylvie's disappointment. I was very careful to keep away from the spew of the water from the motor, and from the sides, but I steered it well enough. It was an amazing feet, returning from miles off shore without getting a drop of water on me. I crept into the house, not waking anyone. What had I done?

I woke up the next morning, praying it was all just a dream. There was only one way to find out. I was feeling much more relaxed this morning, and met Sylvie on the shore. If it was just a dream, then it was an incredibly pleasant switch from my usual nightmare.

"Well, shall we check the results?" I asked cheerily, not taking it seriously. I had managed to convince myself it was all just a dream, and I doubted Sylvie knew what I was talking about. However, she nodded eagerly, which disturbed me a bit. How could she know what I had dreamt? I shrugged it off, as it was faltering my faith that it really was only a dream. I decided to go to the rock pool where I knew I would be alone and out of sight, just in case. I cautiously but experimentally dipped my toe into the water as I sat down on the edge. I sighed contently when nothing happened. My relief was short lived.

Just because the transformation did not happen right away didn't mean that it didn't happen. I stayed human for about ten seconds before I was looking out of watery eyes. I managed to stay calm for that long, but when I looked down at my tail, I panicked. I looked to Sylvie in shock, searching for comfort. She looked at me wide eyed, but did nothing more.

My tail wasn't like Emma's. It was creamy, baby blue, and even lighter on the underbelly. To decorate the blue, I had tiger stripes running down either side, beginning from the top of the back of my tail where they were thickest, and thinning out near the belly. They were various shades of gray, darkest where the stripes were most dense. I had a short, stubby but sturdy thick fin running down the start to the halfway point on my tail. It was ridiculously long, just longer than my legs doubled over. The fluke was quite long, and when I later measured it, it reached the width of my shoulders. It was almost ragged at the end, where it was actual fin, and somewhat translucent. My legs weren't the only things that had changed, though. Like Emma, I had received a free swim top with the package. It was shiny, but not quite metallic. It was covered in scales, or something of the sort. The straps reminded me of seaweed, the way they looped and curled around. Unlike Emma's, though, mine was deep blue to contrast with my tiger striped tail. Her's was orange to compliment her goldenrod colored tail. I also noticed that my dark brown hair was just a little less wavy and tinted red. My forearms were topped with a small, thin line of petite shiny and seemingly clear scales, similar to Sylvie's when they thinned out against her frills. My fingers were webbed too, with the same translucent but fairly thick fins on my fluke. You may think it uncomfortable, and it was quite strange at first, but I had room to stretch my fingers as wide as I usually could. Perhaps most disturbing was my gills. They were directly under my ribcage on my sides, just beneath my lungs. I couldn't breathe through them yet, but they made me feel exposed and vulnerable.

"Sylvie?" She was beginning to realize that this was a bad idea too. I wasn't breathing so steadily anymore. _Don't panic, don't panic! You did this to yourself, remember! _I closed my eyes, and gripped the side of the rock for support. Suddenly, though, I slipped and fell into the shallow pool, disturbing all the wildlife and stinging my tail on a sea anemone. I pushed off the bottom, gasping for air. A fat lot of good those gills were if they didn't work, I thought as I took a breath. Instantly, though, bubbles shot from my gills, and I suddenly had two streams of air flowing to my lungs. Did I have to take a breath before I could breathe through them? I didn't care. I just wanted it to all go away. I'd changed my mind. I didn't want to be a mermaid anymore. How did I get rid of it?

Sylvie cast me a sympathetic glace, and rubbed her head against the palm of my hand. "What now, girl?" I picked her up and held her close for comfort. I had to clear my mind and stay calm if I was to think strait. _Okay, here's the plan. We keep an extra close eye on the other girls, watch and see how they do things. Keep your distance, though. Go to the pool to investigate only when they're not there. If we're lucky, and subtly get advice from that brainy guy… what was his name…Lewis McCartney, yes! Just be quiet about it, and for heaven's sake, __**GET RID OF THAT TAIL!**_

**Chapter 3**

**Discovered**


	2. Chapter 3: Discovered

**Chapter 3**

**Discovered**

I've been a mermaid for a week now. I've gone all kinds of research on them, still trying to sum up the guts to approach Lewis. I haven't found anything that would really help me in my instance. I began to realize that my best bet would be to study the Moonpool, rather than mermaids themselves. I had been following the girls pretty closely, and they didn't seem to have much interest in the pool just yet. I figured it would be pretty safe to try it. Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Sure enough, my nightmares stopped.

I wasn't so used to swimming in my tail yet. I had been putting off my swims with Sylvie, finding my transformation somewhat intimidating. However, I would need to spend more time in my mermaid form if I was to sort it all out. I would leave right away to go do some investigating. I vowed that I would swim the whole way, though. I had to get used to my tail.

Mom was unusually difficult to deal with today. She was usually too busy between being a single mom, work and my baby brother to care whether I was dead or alive. Today, though, she was getting on my back about spending so much time away from home. I didn't get why. I did everything she asked; my room was spotless, I made breakfast like I did every morning. I clenched my fist in annoyance at her persistence. Suddenly, the stove lit up Mom's lunch in flames. We both panicked, and Mom shut off the stove while I got the fire extinguisher. We sprayed it down, the shock still showing on our faces five minutes after the sudden outburst. My brother Nick started crying in the other room, so Mom made a quick recovery and ran off to go tend to him. I used the distraction to run out the door and make for the beach.

As I dove off of a rocky outcropping, I spotted something shiny darting after me. It was Sylvie. I came up for air, and the water around my legs bubbled until they merged into a tail. Skin formed between my fingers, and my gills began to show through. I took a breath of air, and my gills spat out bubbles before they began filtering the oxygen from the water. I instinctively took a breath before I went under, though I no longer needed to. Sylvie flipped around in the water about my head, cheerful as ever. Despite myself, I had to smile. She could make anyone smile.

I flapped my tail up and down with increasing speed, trying to figure out how fast I could go and make it to Mako. Soon, I found myself zipping through the water, leaving nothing but a trail of bubbles in my wake. Sylvie balled herself up in my palm, no longer able to keep up at her normal pace. I slowed as we neared Mako. I took a cautious look around, and pressing myself close to the top of the tunnel where most wouldn't think to look, I peered into the cave. No one was here. Perfect.

Sylvie climbed out of the water and shook herself off before diving right back in. I had to laugh at the pointlessness of this action. She wriggled down to the bottom of the pool to check on each cluster of eggs. I did too, since Sylvie being with me was the only difference in my transformation. Did it matter that she was here with the eggs while I was transformed? For the first time, I picked up an egg. It was no bigger than a chicken egg, and shaped similarly as well. The only difference was that the scales were definable on these eggs, and it was silver colored and metallic. The egg glowed when I touched it, and it almost burned my hand. I dropped it instantly. There was something weird about these eggs, and I wasn't so sure that I wanted to know what it was.

I pulled myself out of the water, and looked around. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the place besides the fact that it was directly under the dormant volcano. Wait- the volcano! Maybe it somehow fit into the equation. And I couldn't forget about the full moon. I had spent no more than ten minutes here, and I already had three new leads. I felt very proud. I wondered how far the others had come in their investigation.

Meanwhile, Sylvie was sniffing about, climbing the sides of the walls, digging into the hard face with her pointy little claws. She was soon hanging upside down off of an outcropping. I laughed, and almost lost my balance. It was easy, trying to balance without any legs and thick stubble of fin running down my tail as well. The thickness of my tail didn't help matters, either. It wasn't as flexible as depicted in cartoons like The Little Mermaid, and bent only a little bit to assist my stability. Tails that were flexible were usually made for agility. Mine was built for speed. I was hesitant to stay for long periods at a time, so I left again with these new leads. I would probably need to contact Lewis soon, but I kept putting it off. What if he found out?

In the following days, I became increasingly comfortable in the small cavern. It felt like a second home to me. Better yet, there had been no sign of the girls. By day five, I actually found the nerve to bring my pencils and paper to the pool to draw. (I loved to draw.) That, however, was a big mistake. I took my Dad's boat to Mako with my supplies so they wouldn't get wet. I hid the boat, and trekked quickly through the forest and slid down into the pool. I set up, setting my pencil cases on one side where they were easily accessible and my miscellaneous supplies on the other side. I used my lap as my table as I outlined a mermaid lightly with graphite pencil. I roughly sketched it, and then scribbled the first undercoat of orange on the tail. I then applied layer upon layer of gold and orange until it almost popped off of the page. Then, I applied the first skin tone, and then the following layers. When it came time for the face, I had no idea who it would be. However, my fingers had ideas of their own. I found that they continued making marks, and I trusted them to make a line here, reinforce a shadow there. To my astonishment, I found Emma to be the subject of my drawing. I shrugged. After all, she had been the one I'd seen with the tail. I went ahead and finished with her hair, then the watery background.

I made a few other drawings, two of them turning out to be Rikki and Cleo. However, I left the space for their tails blank. I had a different tail than Emma. How did I know that their tails weren't unique as well? I had just finished my fourth drawing. It was of me, but from the back view, not letting my face show. I was swimming away from a shipwreck, the Lorelei. I wasn't quite sure why I drew this scene. It just popped into my head, and I judged it interesting enough to put down on paper. I was too deeply engrossed in inserting the final layer to realize that Sylvie was urgently tugging on my shirt hem. Nor did I hear the approaching footsteps, as muffled as they were in the sand.

"What are you doing here?" Rikki boomed. I when I looked up, my whole body leapt up, and tensed. I was instantly on my feet, my heart stampeding in my chest. "How did you get in?" She continued.

"Silver?" Cleo recognized me. In a panic, I abandoned my drawings and dove into the pool, swimming as fast as I could while I transformed. I heard a splash behind me, probably Rikki wanting answers. I disappeared in a stream of bubbles before she could glimpse my tail, dragging Sylvie along behind me. Okay, now that I think about it, that may not have been the smartest idea.


	3. Chapter 4: The Spy

**Chapter 4**

**The Spy**

I knew I had to avoid the girls. That wouldn't be easy, considering we went to the same high school and Cleo even knew my name. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to talk to them, or make contact of any kind. I'd try not to look at them, because I knew that visual contact usually drew their eyes to yours, but curiosity would probably get the best of me.

I stayed at home whenever I could, helping out with the dogs even more than I had been. Mom was pleasantly surprised by this new attitude, but didn't dare complain. She taught me a new signal, which we would use for the new racing dogs she was being paid to train. I had to clench my fist with my pointer and middle finger still up, and point. That would send them running in the direction I'd indicated. I tried it out later that day. The owners were sitting on a bench a few yards back, watching their pets' progress, sipping cold water under the hot sun and having a good laugh. I raised my fist, all but the two fingers clenched, and pointed. The greyhound, Sergeant, took off. I added my fingers to the bunch in satisfaction. "Oy!" one of the men behind me shouted. "Oh, you're a clever one. What kind of joke is this, Jim?"

"What joke?"

"Green water? Is that the best you can do?"

"I didn't do it."

"Yeah, yeah. Give me my bottle back, Jim."

"I swear, I didn't!"

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

I rolled my eyes. They were acting like six year olds! Sergeant returned, his tongue flapping out of his mouth under the heat. I rubbed his coat, and then gave him a treat to reward him. I led him towards the water bowl, and let him have a good, deep drink before taking him for another run. I signaled again, and he burst down the make-shift course. "Really, Jim! Where do you get gray food coloring?"

"What?"

"It's gray, now! Come on, give me back _my_ drink. The sun is blazing out here!" I paused and thought about the dilemma. I signaled before his water turned color. Could I be doing that? It wouldn't hurt to try again, especially if it would get them to shut up. It wasn't easy, keeping the motion out of sight of both the men behind me and the dog as to not confuse him. I did, and nothing happened. I shrugged, and let my fingers join the clump. "Now red? Jimmy, how many times are you going to pull this?" I whirled. Jim was no where near the other man. Yet the water in his bottle had changed colors again. Just to be sure, I tried the signal again. Nothing happened until I let my fingers join my fist. The water in his bottle turned blue before my eyes. "How are you doing that?" Jim finally looked up. "I'm not doing a thing!" I grinned. I signaled one last time, willing it to come out clear. "Now, that's better Jimmy. Good lad." (Yes, he was Irish.) Jimmy gave up protesting. It seems as though my mermaidedness had come with an uncanny ability. I recognized the hand motion as a mimic of a paintbrush movement. _How fitting_, I thought. I did love art.

"Carry, will you go pick up two fruit smoothies? Janette is coming over. And get one for yourself, too, if you'd like!" Mom called. She was the only one who still called my Carry. My birth name is Caroline.

I took a ten dollar bill from the family jar, and set out to the one smoothie place I knew, at the juice bar/café. To my dismay, the girls were sitting in a booth in the far back with Lewis. I couldn't go back home empty handed, but I didn't want them to see me, either. I kept my head low, and stuffed my hair up in a baseball cap, doing my best to partly disguise myself. I walked up to the counter with the ten dollar bill and ordered. "Two raspberry-blueberry fruit smoothies and a strawberry kiwi to go, please." "Coming right up," was the reply. I looked away, keeping my back to the group, hoping they hadn't seen me.

Someone tapped my shoulder as I waited for my order, and I turned to face Lewis. "You left this," he started slowly, kind of unsure. He handed me a plastic grocery bag, and I peered inside. All of my art pencils! How had he gotten a hold of them? Were the girls returning them through him? "Thanks," I began, glancing in their direction. They were all obviously doing their best not to turn in my direction. Well, not Rikki. She defiantly returned my stare, and Emma tried to glimpse me out of the corner of her eye. I wrapped my wrist around the bag, and turned back to the counter. Lewis stayed there, unsure of what to say next, but obviously wanting to say something more. I heard him doing a poor job of mouthing something to someone behind him. "Something else," I prompted. "Uh, yes," he said instantly turning back around. No doubt he was communicating with the girls. Was he serving as a spy for them? "Look, I'm good with secrets," he finally began. "If there's anything you ever want to tell me, feel free."

"I hardly know you, and you've only just met me! Why would I trust you with my secrets?"

"Oh, you're Silver, right? Hi, I never properly introduced myself." He stuck out a hand that I refused to touch. The waiter came back with my order, and I paid him. I took the drinks and turned to leave. "Excuse me," I said, pushing past him. "Uh, wait," he insisted, stepping in front of me. "I want to ask you something, but not here. Can you meet me, say, Mako Island tonight?" Mako Island. Of course. He was working for the girls. He might even know about them, too. "I'm busy," I refused, slipping past him and ducking out the door. He wasn't going to give up that easily. He hung in the doorway and called again, "Please?" I stopped, and turned. "Will the girls be there?" "W-what girls?" he stuttered. I gave him a look that said, 'you know what I mean, and if you want me to even consider this, stop acting like you don't know.' He sighed with defeat and took a few bounds to catch up to me. "They just want to talk."

"Not interested."

"They want to help!"

"You just said they only wanted to talk."

"Isn't that the same thing?" I turned. Rikki, noticing that sending Lewis wasn't working, came out herself. She marched over, and stopped me in my tracks by gripping my shoulders and whirling me around. The fury in her eyes made me freeze. She meant business. Emma and Cleo ran out after her, trying to cool her off. "Rikki, stop! You'll scare her off," Emma demanded. Rikki let go, but still stared down at me. The second she let me go, I tore down the road towards home. No one tried to pursue me. I flung open the door, locked it once inside, and leaned against it to catch my breath. "What took you so long?" Mom asked casually, coming in. I huffed irritably and set the two raspberry-blueberry cups on the counter. I passed Janette on the way to the staircase that led to my room, and returned her wave halfheartedly as I marched up the steps. I plopped on my bed, and stared up at the ceiling. Sylvie crawled through my window, and glided over to the bed with her wide frills. She curled up beside me, sensing something was wrong. "Why does life have to be so hard?" I asked her as I stroked her side. She gave a little sigh of sympathy. My cell phone rang beside my bed. I looked at the caller ID. It was Cleo Sertori. "Should I answer? It's Cleo." Sylvie just stared up at me, waiting to see my decision. As it rang for the last time, I finally opened it and held it to my ear.

"Silver, it's me, Cleo. I live down the road from you. We'll still be going to Mako tonight, if you're interested. We'll be down in that pool at nine tonight. I hope you'll come." She hung up without waiting for a response, as if an answering machine had picked up. Oh, wait, it had. I'd waited too long. She left me a message. "Do you think we should go?" Sylvie tipped her head to one side, unsure. I sighed. So many decisions! Should I?


	4. Chapter 5: Formal Meeting

**Chapter 5**

**Formal Meeting**

I looked over at the clock. It was eight forty five. I had to make a decision soon. I looked at Sylvie, who cocked her head. I sighed, my mind made up. I grabbed my jacket, and turned out the light as I went through the door. "I'll be back soon. I'm going out," I called. Mom waved me out subconsciously, not even bothering to ask where I was going or when I'd be back.

I shut the door behind me, and let Sylvie out of my pocket. She perched on my shoulder as we took the shortcut through the backyard to the shore. I looked around, making sure no one was around, and then I dove into the dark water. The sun had gone down, and I could barely see anything in the black water. I came up for a breath, and my gills took affect. I took one look in the direction of the island in the distance to get my bearings. I zipped off at top speed, not wanting to be late. I set Sylvie free when we approached the entrance, and I cautiously swam through.

I came up for a fresh breath of air, not the filtered stuff from my gills, as I appeared in the pool. The girls were waiting near the back of the small cavern with Lewis, but rushed over quickly at my arrival. For a whole minute, no one said anything.

"You wanted to talk, so talk," I finally said. I crossed my arms and used the rocky side of the pool for balance.

"Her tail isn't like ours," Cleo whispered to Lewis. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't exactly like it when people talk about me as if I'm not here."

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Come out of the water," Emma suggested, "then we can talk properly." I cautiously flicked my tail, pushing my to the pool's edge.

"Here." Lewis offered a hand. I uncertainly took it, but he recoiled at its touch. "Your hands are webbed!"

"Theirs aren't?"

"No." I snorted, and pulled myself out of the water. Sylvie jumped up behind me, but they didn't seem to notice.

My tail flopped after me onto the sand, and Rikki bent down over it, refusing to make eye contact. She raised a hand, and slowly clenched her fist. Steam produced from my tail, and it stung a little bit, but I didn't complain. I only widened my eyes with surprise as I turned to water and regained my legs.

"Let's start with your power," Emma said. How could she know about that?

"My power?" I tried to play dumb.

"We each have a special power," Emma explained, cutting off Rikki's sneer. She thought it was funny that I hadn't discovered mine yet.

"Like this." Cleo held up a hand, waving it slightly before the pool. A modest size sphere of water rose up and floated in the air. Then, Emma held up her flat palm, and it froze solid. Then, Rikki clenched her fist, and evaporated it into mere water vapor.

"Oh, you mean like this? Cleo, make another water sphere thing." She obeyed, perplexed, and I swiped the air with my two fingers. Instantly, the water turned white. I swiped again, and pink faintly bubbled out from the center. Cleo squealed in surprise, and I turned it clear again before it splashed into the water below. All eyes turned on me. I shrugged.

"You told me to."

"What good is a power like that?" Rikki obviously didn't like another mermaid added into the mix. I jumped to my feet in protest. Rikki took a step forward to top it, and looked angry enough to actually hit me. I shielded myself from an imaginary blow.

"Whoa!" Ice crept down one side of the damp cave wall. I looked at my palm. It was flat like Emma had demonstrated. Did I do that?

"Was that you?"

"I don't know."

"Try it again, like I showed you," Emma suggested. Cleo created yet another practice sphere, and I held up a flat palm. It froze instantly. I was shocked. Rikki began to melt it.

"No, wait," Emma said. Rikki stopped. "Silver, you try." I clenched my fist, and it disappeared into mist.

"Catch it," Cleo ordered, loosing her grip on a new sphere.

I imitated the motion she'd used, and the sphere stopped just before it hit the water. Okay, so I had all of the girls' powers plus one. What did that mean?

"You're like a mega mermaid," Lewis commented. I snorted. He was a boy, after all. He didn't know any better.

I tossed the sphere back into the pool, and it landed with a splash.

"You've seen my tail. Isn't it fair that I see all of yours?" I asked.

"You must have seen them already," Rikki retorted. "You drew Emma's."

"But what about _yours_?"

"They all look alike."

"Really? Then why is mine the only different one?"

"Was there anything different or odd about your transformation?"

"The only thing I can think of was Sylvie and the eggs."

"What?"

"My lizard Sylvie was in the water with me and the light bouncing off of all of the eggs was pointed right at me."

"What eggs? Where's your lizard?"

"Haven't you noticed all of those eggs down at the bottom of the pool?"

"No, because there aren't any," Rikki said. It didn't take much to see that she didn't like the whole idea of me being here, or being another mermaid, for that matter.

"There are too dozens of silver eggs down there!"

"We did find one silver egg not long after you left," Emma tried to add helpfully.

"And Sylvie is right there." I pointed to where my lizard was preening herself.

"Silver, there's nothing there."

"But she is!" I took two bounds to the spot, and plucked Sylvie off the ground roughly in my frenzy. She gave a squeal of protest, and tried to wiggle away. "Behave," I hissed. Cleo squeaked in fright. Girls were never good around lizards, rodents and bugs, I knew.

"Where did it come from?"

"She's been here this whole time!"

"She just appeared," Cleo argued.

"If you can't see Sylvie or the eggs, then why can I?" I loosened my grip, and Sylvie squirmed out of my arms.

"It's gone!"

"How many eggs are down there?"

"Dozens."

"Are they the same kind of lizard as Sylvie?"

"I think so."

"Where did you get Sylvie?"

"I found her washed up on the beach front one morning and raised her. She's been my secret, but I guess if no one else can see her, then there's not much point in so much secrecy." We were all quiet. This just got more and more complicated.

"How long have you been a mermaid?" Rikki finally asked critically.

"Just since the last full moon, a month less than you."

"How do you know when we became mermaids?" I winced.

"I was there when you became mermaids. I watched the whole thing, but I never saw your tails."

"Then how did you find out what Emma's tail looked like?"

"I saw her coming out of the water from a swim once."

"Emma!"

"Sorry. I didn't think anyone was there."

"Wait, if you saw us, then you must have known what would happen." I hung my head.

"I was having nightmares about drowning. They weren't so bad at first, but after a while, I just couldn't take them anymore. I got this crazy idea in my head that maybe if I became a mermaid like you, they would go away." The whole cave was quiet.

"Did they?" I almost let out a laugh. I couldn't help but grin as I nodded my head. Not even Rikki had a smart remark to make about that.

Lewis looked at his watch. "It's getting pretty late. Won't your mom miss you?" I shook my head.

"She's too busy to even notice I'm out. If she's still up when I come through the door and she realizes I've been out, I might get reprimanded. I doubt it, though. Between being a single mom with a two year old kid running around and working, she doesn't have time to breathe, let alone pay me any mind."

"Well, unlike yours, my parents will get on my back if I'm out too long. I'd better get back."

"Me too," Cleo agreed. "I'm glad you came, though, Silver." I dipped my head.

"We've got an exam tomorrow. We should all probably get to sleep," Emma added. She dove into the water, waving Lewis good night. Cleo followed her, and Lewis ducked out of the cave through the land exit.

Rikki and I hung back.

"Look, sorry about before," Rikki began. "I guess I'm not used to the thought of another mermaid. You're welcome to hang out with us, you know." I almost fainted. Did Rikki just _apologize_? With that, she jumped into the water.

"Watch the eggs," I called after her. She had almost landed on a cluster. She looked at the space beneath her, wondering where the eggs could be. She shrugged, and began to swim away. Before she went through the tunnel, she turned and called back.

"You coming?"

"In a bit."

"You sure? My Dad won't mind me staying out for a while, and I'll flunk the exam anyway. What do you say to a little night swimming?" My face lit up in delight at the prospect.

"What do you think, Sylvie?" I asked, crouching down and scratching behind her head fins. Rikki smiled, kind of unsure. It must look like I was talking to air, even if talking to an animal wasn't bad enough. Sylvie nodded her head vigorously with a little chirp. I stood again.

"Sure."

"Come on, then!" I took a step back, and then jumped, doing a frontwards flip into the water. I didn't want to get with the girls at first, but now I couldn't be happier. I waited for my tail to form. Sylvie dove into the water beside me, and I grinned at her as she paddled with her forepaws to circle my head.

I tried an experiment while my lungs were still full of air. I tried to move the existing water away from my face. It worked, and a large air bubble surrounded my head. I took a full, long breath, and my gills kicked in.

I swam up beside Rikki and her long golden tail. I noticed with a laugh that our tails were the same length, even though they were incredibly unproportional.

Rikki took one more look at me, the oddball of the group, before paddling forward. She tended to extend her arms to slice the water ahead of her. I, however, usually just let my arms hang to my sides.

Rikki and I swam through the coral reefs for a while, chasing each other and scaring the nocturnal undersea wildlife. It was quite beautiful. The moon and stars lit up the water. It was much easier to see underneath the waves.

I decided to bring our game up to the surface. There were no boats around for miles. With a head start, I shot up to the surface, and broke through the water. Time seemed to slow down as I hung in the air just before I crashed back down. Rikki saw what I was doing and decided to try it. She got a head start as well, and burst out of the water. I watched from a distance. She didn't reach the height I had, probably because of her tail weighing her down. Our tails were about the same, but mine was much slimmer, the muscle spread out rather than in small clusters.

I laughed, and tried a spy hop. I managed to stay up in the air for a grand total of three or four seconds before gravity decided it couldn't take my weight. Rikki tried this, but couldn't come more than a foot out of the water, whereas I was five feet.

We tried some loops after that, but ended up crashing into each other. We laughed at our clumsiness. I never thought that Rikki of all girls would become my friend. But here we were, having a good old time. No. It was better than that. I was having a full out blast!


	5. Chapter 6: Useful

**A/N: **From this point on, I'm going to pick and choose, skipping through some of the episodes. Oh, and obviously, episodes like this one are going to be longer than spurts of my imagination put down on the page.

**Chapter 6**

**Useful**

I woke up to my phone ringing beside me. I groaned, and fumbled for it, without opening my eyes. When I couldn't find it, I finally squinted in the daylight streaming through my window, and found it on the floor. I picked it up and answered without checking the caller ID.

"Yeah?" I asked groggily.

"Silver, its Emma," the teen stated promptly.

"You do realize it's six in the morning?"

"Yes. Aren't you up yet?"

"I wake up at seven."

"Well get up, lazy bum!" She suddenly seemed quite comfortable around me. I grunted as I pulled myself up into a sitting position before sliding off the bed.

"What's up?"

"Lewis is talking about going to work in some famous scientist's lab, Dr. Denman, to get a better look at what's happened to us. It's making me kind of uncomfortable. He wants us to trust him, but by what Cleo told us, I'm getting nervous. Do you think you could keep an eye on him?"

"How?"

"Well I just thought with your coloring power that maybe you could turn invisible or something."

"I don't believe so," I replied dryly.

"Still, you could do a lot. Lewis will just view you as curious if you ask questions, being the newest addition and all."

"I don't like spying."

"Thanks anyway," she said flatly, slightly irritated. She hung up.

She might as well have put it plainly 'thanks for nothing,' I thought angrily as I changed into my clothes. However, she had given me an idea.

I took a close look at the swirly, sparkly copper prints I had stenciled in over the white paint years ago. Then, I flattened myself against the wall in front of the mirror. I clenched my fist, using all but my index and middle fingers. Then, I added the fingers to the lot, concentrating on first a white layer, and then repeating the procedure for the copper swirls. I was astonished. I blended into the wall almost perfectly. The shadows easily picked me out from the wall, but if I was in a dark, shaded area, someone might have a hard time noticing me, especially if I didn't make eye contact. Maybe I would go spy on this Denman character for Emma after all.

For now, though, I had to prepare for school. I first turned the stains on my skin and clothes that I had made translucent so my mother wouldn't freak out. I brushed my teeth and finished the last few arithmetic problems I had left over. I packed my bag, and found my shoes.

When all of this was done, I hopped onto the computer and looked up Dr. Denman. She was a famous scientist, as pointed out by Emma, who had written a few important research papers. I clicked on one of them, but was bored after the first five sentences.

Overall, she seemed to be a pretty average science geek. I hated spying on someone like her and Lewis, but if Emma was concerned, then it was probably necessary.

"Carry, get out of bed or you'll be late for school," Mom called up. "And I am NOT going to give you a late note." I laughed to myself, and plucked my bag off of the bed. I smelled bacon cooking downstairs.

The bell rang, and I followed Cleo and Lewis to the marine park where Cleo worked. I had gotten off easy with no homework tonight.

I warily trailed back behind them. I'd had to pay to get in while Cleo and Lewis got in through the employee entrance. _Today I'll just scope it out_, I promised myself.

I caught up to the mermaid and the scientist-in-training as they entered the dolphin training area, though I still didn't make my presence known. They continued until they reached the storage building where the visiting scientist had set up.

I hid in the shrubs outside of the building, camouflaging myself. I listened in on the conversation from beneath the window outside, hoping the dying and shriveled hedge would hide my shadow.

"Lewis, we're not supposed to be in this area."

"Oh ho, talk about heavy duty!" he exclaimed, ignoring her. "What do you think she looks like?"

"She spends a lot of time in the water. Maybe a prune?" Denman was coming now. Well at least, I assumed it was Denman. She was pretty young, maybe 21, with blonde hair and a lightly tanned face. She was kind of pretty, and looked nice, which made me feel even worse about spying on her. She was wearing a white lab coat, reminding me of how scientists were often depicted in movies.

She walked into the room, laughing at an unsaid joke.

"Can I help you?" she asked. By the way her voice was strained, I could tell she was still smiling and too giddy to care they were in a private area. Neither replied for a while, and I assumed they were getting over her young looks.

"You're Dr. Demon," Lewis stuttered, mispronouncing her name.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Denman," she corrected, excusing the mistake. Lewis chuckled to himself, realizing that he was talking to a world famous scientist.

"I'm Le-Lewis McCartney, McCartney," he stuttered. As I peered through the window, I watched him check the resume in his hands to double check his name.

"Lewis McCartney," Denman shook his hand. I ducked out of sight again when I attracted Cleo's gaze. "Are you the one that sent me forty eight e-mails about the research assistant position?" Okay, that was funny.

"Yes I am."

"Wow. You must be very keen. Either that or a stalker." Lewis laughed a bit too forcefully.

"Stalker?" he laughed. "This is Cleo," he introduced at last. "This is my resume, if you'd like to…" his voice trailed off.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you Cleo, Lewis. Let me say that I find your attitude admirable. Science is the key that unlocks the door to the mysteries of life."

"So, mind if we take a look at what you're up to?" Cleo asked, a bit critically. Was she jealous?

"Sorry, I'm actually at a crucial stage of something at the moment, but I will take a look at your resume." She politely shoved them out the door, however that worked out. "Okay?"

"Okay," Lewis replied dumbly. I almost snorted. As soon as they left, I crept away, unspotted by anyone or any security cameras. Since I'd paid to get in, I might as well look around. I poked about the marine park, admiring their animals for a good part of the evening, and received a mild tongue lashing from Mom when I got home.

Sylvie was waiting for me on my bed, rather cross that I had left her by herself all day.

"What?" I shrieked innocently after a few moments of silence. "Oh, now don't give me that," I persisted when Sylvie's expression became expectant. "I was doing very important spy work for Emma, if you must know." Sylvie squealed in alarm. _Me, spying?_ "It seemed urgent." I seemed to be trying to convince myself now, rather than relaying a reason. I sighed, as if in confession. "Maybe you're right. Emma doesn't even know I changed my mind about the spying job. We'll just have to keep it that way." Sylvie breathed in relief.

I changed into my nightgown, and then I walked over to my window. I was already planning a midnight swim under the full moon to celebrate a full month of being a mermaid and keeping my secret as being one… for the most part. The moon was still a crescent, only about a fourth of the way there.

I sighed with content. Even the stars seemed to be smiling down on me. One in particular seemed to gaze down on me; one that had a slightly green-blue glow, as crazy as that sounds.

Sylvie joined me and situated herself on my lap. I stroked her back, gently running my fingers along those beautiful teal fins that doubled as wings.

"Come on. You can sleep in my bed tonight," I summoned, getting up and pulling aside the sheets. Sylvie let out a squeak of delight, flapping her wings twice before scrabbling up the soft side of the bed so she didn't slip. I turned out the light and fumbled around the bed sheets until I found Sylvie. I didn't want to squash her.

I pulled the blankets over me and set a hand on Sylvie's tiny but warm body. Her flank rose and sank rapidly to match the fast yet slowing pace of her heartbeat. I secretly envied her. With wings, she had the freedom to go anywhere whenever she pleased.

_What was it like up there?_ With one last look at Sylvie, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

-Several weeks later-

I woke up and began my daily routine. I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and I pulled my hair back in a pony tail, but I skipped the shower so I wouldn't sprout a tail. I went to school, somehow survived the day, and returned to my starting point to do my homework. Finally, I was saved from a science paper by a phone call. The girls were meeting at Mako Island and wondered if I could come. I eagerly put down my work and took the shortcut to the shore through my window.

I saw the ends of the girls' tails disappearing through the tunnel into the pool. I followed more slowly, catching my breath now that I knew I wasn't too terribly late.

"I can't believe Lewis exposed us," Emma stated to follow up Cleo's message, which I just missed. _**WHAT?**_

"He didn't," I protested with a gasp, paddling over to join them. The others turned to see me, and Cleo nodded confirmation.

"I saw it myself. Denman got a hold of a cell sample that mutates when it gets wet. She's writing a paper on it. And guess what Lewis took from me just this morning?" Rikki mistook my horrified look of realization for one of uncertainty.

"He took a mermaid toenail. He admitted that she saw it, but he didn't include that she was still investigating it."

"How could he be so careless?"

"You should have seen him when we first met Denman. Who knows what's going on in his head right now?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's meet Lewis at the JuiceNet café." Trust Emma to keep a level head even in the worst situations. I nodded my approval, and the others hesitantly did the same.

Cleo called him up as soon as we were on dry land, where she had left her cell phone. He was there ASAP.

"Denman hasn't forgotten about the cell sample, Lewis," Cleo began. "I saw a paper she was making on her laptop. It looked like an article for a scientific journal or something. It's the same stuff that you keep blabbing about, Lewis. It proves she's still got the DNA sample. It was in a little white slide box."

"Well, Lewis?" Emma was very upset, no longer cool, calm and level headed.

"She wouldn't."

"Then why would she be studying it? She was doing _tests_."

"She's not like that."

"It's time to face facts, Romeo."

"Facts? You don't have any facts. Cleo, you read a bit of an article you don't understand."

"I understand enough to know it's the same stuff you say."

"So? Maybe I've influenced her thinking. I have a… very… forceful personality." Emma refrained a laugh, but I was too scared to do anything.

"Ha!"

"Listen, Lewis," I cut in with an edge to my voice. "You had better make sure she doesn't have the sample for two reasons. The first is, our lives are at stake, and if you have to sacrifice your imaginary romance with Denman, then I really couldn't care less. Second, if you don't get that sample back, then you had better believe that I will. It's your choice." I sat back in the booth, dead serious, crossing my arms. I was usually the quiet one, but when I was scared stiff, I would speak up and threaten someone before doing it myself. Lewis began to stammer, finding the right words.

"Why do you think she wants me on her research trip? Did it ever occur to you that there might be a reason? Like… like she values my opinion?"

"And your mopping," Rikki added sarcastically, managing to keep a serious face. Lewis couldn't find anything to say, so he huffed disappointedly and left. I felt kind of bad for what I'd said. I was just scared. I got up to follow him momentarily without a drink to finish.

He had gotten halfway down the road when I caught up to him at a jog.

"Lewis!"

"I got you're point the first time, you don't have to come and remind me," he retorted huffily, hunched over and not bothering to stop or even turn around at the sound of my voice.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," I continued, falling into step beside him. "I get all defensive and kind of bossy when I'm scared."

"This is really scaring you?" He turned and looked at me.

"Of course it is! You're not the one with the tail, so you don't have anything to loose. My life is on the line, though. Mine and the girls'. It scares me more than anything. I have more to loose than the others, anyway. At least their parents would come look for them, and probably accept them as they are. My mom might look, but she'd never get past the fact that I can grow a tail." Lewis considered this thoughtfully. "I am serious, Lewis. I do crazy things when I'm scared, and I will take matters into my own hands if you don't take care of this. I won't be able to sleep at night knowing a scientist might try to track me down for experiments."

"You don't have anything to worry about. Your cellular structure is different from the other girls, which will make you impossible to track down. Besides, Denman wouldn't do anything like that."

"Can you be sure?" He started to say yes, but paused. My mom appeared a few yards behind us and recognized me.

"Caroline Jessica Price, what are you doing out here, and who's that?" I turned around, my eyes wide with shock. "Get over here, young lady!" My cheeks flushed, and I kept my head low as I darted across the sidewalk to her side. She nudged me down the next street, and looking back at Lewis with one last hard, critical glare, she followed, handing me a bag of groceries to carry.

I finished my homework, but didn't go out any more that night. I tried going to bed early, knowing sleep would be scarce, but it was futile. Rikki and Emma had infiltrated the marine park, and Rikki's hand had come literally inches within the stolen sample. They called me up later that night to report their expedition. Lewis seemed to have ignored our conversation, and he intended to accept Denman's research assistant position.

I met the girls by the shore near my house under a weeping willow early the next morning. None of us had slept at all.

"You do realize she'll eventually get it out of him, don't you?" Emma spoke.

"What?"

"Where the DNA came from."

"We have to get that slide back."

"Lewis wouldn't sell us out completely, would he?"

"Stop having so much faith in human nature. He already has sold us out."

"I warned him." My voice was low, deep and quiet, giving away my obvious fear. My head rested on my knees, and I was curled in a ball a few feet from Emma. All eyes turned to me. "I warned him that if he didn't get it back, I would. That's what I intend to do."

"How?"

"Something like this." I lay down on the grass. I clenched my fist with my index and middle fingers still sticking up. I smoothly swiped them downward until they rested on top of the other fingers. My front became painted with a pattern to convincingly match the grass.

"That's brilliant."

"I'll give him until her ship pulls out. I'll be on it too, just in case." Cleo got up and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to Lewis, even if it is for the last time." She took a few steps away, and then turned to summon the rest of us. "Well?" I got up, but headed for Denman's boat instead. I would have to be early to not get caught.

I boarded the boat without too much trouble; there was only one goon aboard this early to guard the expensive equipment on board. I found a small storage room, quite cramped from all the cargo, but squeezed into a small, shadowed area. I painted myself to match the color of the dark corner.

After a few minutes, I heard the door creak open and some nearby shuffling. I held my breath in fright. I must have sucked in too loudly, though. Lewis's head poked around the box I was behind. He didn't see me right away, as I was camouflaged.

"Silver?" I opened my eyes, and looked. I let out a heavy breath of relief when I saw it was just Lewis. "What are you doing here?"

"I warned you. I came for the cell sample." He held up a small, white box.

"Right here." I smiled, quietly laughing with relief. He grinned too, and helped me up. I snuck around to the back of the boat and escaped by water. Lewis, with granted permission, though, walked right past the goon without a worry in the world.

After the ship was well on its way, I surfaced next to the dock where the others were. Lewis was just explaining how he got the sample back, found me, and erased Denman's research paper from her computer file. Cleo almost hugged Lewis, and he almost hugged back, but they settled for a high five.

"Oh, just hug her already," I hissed teasingly from below. They looked down and laughed, but didn't. I snorted with a laugh. They took one last look at Denman's departing ship before waltzing down the dock. I quickly dried myself and followed.


	6. Chapter 7: Two Little Sirens

**A/N: **Although this is based on an episode, it focuses more on Silver's first moon experience because everyone's focus is on Cleo.

**Chapter 7**

**Two Little Sirens**

It had been a week since Mom left for a special trip, leaving me lady of the house. I'd hardly had time to breathe between cleaning, doing homework, and caring for the many dogs, let alone going out besides to replenish our food.

I hadn't seen the girls and Lewis besides at school, which was pretty rare for a few reasons. Since I was still a freshman, it would damage their social status to be seen with me. Besides, we had different schedules anyway. If I saw them, it was just a brief sighting as we passed each other between classes.

When Mom finally came home, I immediately left. I wanted a free night out with my fellow mermaids after being deprived of that privilege for a week.

Upon arrival, I noticed that it was much more crowded than usual. It was karaoke night at the juice bar. Miriam was just finishing her song. I ordered a raspberry banana smoothie, paid the man, and I leaned up against the counter as I waited for my drink.

I noticed the group out of the corner of my eye. I knew I'd find them here. This was their favorite hang out, after all. Suddenly, Cleo was ushered up onto the stage. Cleo? Oh, I wanted to hear her sing!

I smiled as the music started, but it gradually faded away as she began to sing. A few verses into the song, I accidentally winced. She was just a _little_ bit off key. Well, maybe a little more than that. Okay, don't tell her I said this, but she was terrible. I felt so bad for her.

After the first few verses, she was being booed at by the whole café and even the owner, Wilfred, took the microphone from her. She timidly stepped down, trying not to cry from embarrassment. She refused to meet their gazes. I took my drink and sat down with them. I didn't say anything. I just sat and sipped at my drink, and they knew I'd heard.

Tomorrow was the weekend (NO SCHOOL!), and the start of a new month, meaning a full moon. I left early, around five in the evening. I took my newly purchased underwater video camera as well, hoping to get some good night scenes.

I reached Mako, almost expecting the girls to be there as well. They were not, though, but I didn't mind. I was a loner anyway.

I swam around the reefs for a while, getting some pretty nice footage of the wildlife. I was so proud of myself. I returned to the Moonpool, as the girls were calling it, to replay some of it. It was getting pretty late, but the moon hadn't risen yet. I balanced myself on the ledge, and replayed my tapes. I was careful never to include myself with my tail, in case anyone unwelcome ever got their hands on it.

When I looked up from my films at the sky above, I saw a few winking stars. I grinned, and swam back out through the tunnel, preparing for new footage.

I surfaced again near a cluster of rocks that poked out of the water for a fresh breath. I set down the camera, but my finger slipped and I accidentally pressed play. Oh, snap! It was filming _me_!

The full moon above caught my eye as I fiddled with the buttons, trying to turn it off. I looked up at the moon for several seconds with my full attention. I felt it's light concentrate on me, or rather, _inside_ me. Perhaps it wasn't the moon so much as it was that same green-blue star… I'm not quite sure. In any case, that's the last thing I remember that night.

I woke up on the floor of the Moonpool the next morning, my camera beside me. I rolled over onto my belly, and eased myself back into the cold water. What was I doing here? Mom would be frantic!

I felt something brush my side, and I jumped. What was that? It didn't scare me so much as it just tickled me. I turned around, and the color must have drained from my face. Where had _those_ come from?

Sprouting from my back were two stout, thick, dragon like wings covered in tiny silver scales much like those covering Sylvie's own hide. I desperately checked my video camera for answers. I had left it on, hadn't I?

Sure enough, there was a saved video of me trying to fix the camera before I looked up at the full moon. When my face turned back to the screen, I was horrified to find that my pupils had turned foggy, and I seemed hypnotized. I then proceeded to perched on one of the larger rocks, balance perfectly, raise my face to the moon and burst out in song, just like a siren of mythology.

The song seemed to have no words, and the voice didn't sound like my own at all. It sounded too mature, and too beautifully liquid. I wasn't particularly a good singer, but I wasn't as bad as Cleo, either. (Again, don't tell her I said that!) It was like it wasn't me that was singing, but something singing through me.

That led to another question. _Why_ was I singing? As I continued to watch, I started to realize that the wordless tune seemed to be directed at someone- or perhaps, in my case, something.

I watched another ten minutes, and no wings appeared. I thought for a moment. I remembered a book I read once called animorphs where the kids could change form, as long as they had the DNA of that form, by concentrating on what it looked like. It sounded silly, but it was worth a shot. I mean, what was the harm?

I closed my eyes, and pictured myself without wings. I heard a sickening grinding noise, and the wings on my back began to shrink back into nothing but growths until they had shriveled back into my skin. I couldn't help but notice that the scales were still there on my back, though. I grinned in triumph anyway.

I was about to go find the rock again, but then I remembered Mom. She must be frantic! I gripped the camera's handle as I flung myself into the water and swam full force for shore. What was I going to say?

I ran as hard as I could through the yard to the front door. I tossed my camera in a bush as I passed it to hide the evidence.

I burst through the screen door, panting heavily. Mom's eyes were red as she sat on the couch, cradling Nick in her arms. To my surprise, the girls were here too, trying to console Mom as they waited for my return with her. Lewis was in the corner with Cleo, his expression impossible to read.

Everyone looked up at the slamming of the screen door.

"Caroline Jessica Price! Where have you been?" She jumped up, leaving Nick in Emma's arms. Without waiting for a reply, she ran over and tried her hand at suffocating me. I realized how she must have felt, and couldn't do anything but hug her back.

Cleo and Rikki shot to their feet as well, and Lewis was right behind them. Emma rose more slowly with Nick in her arms. I was soon surrounded by people demanding answers.

"Why didn't you come home last night?" Mom was desperate for answers. Maybe I could fake innocence.

"I- I don't know," I convincingly stammered. "I was going to the JuiceNet, and then… I don't remember. I woke up on the beach."

"On the _beach_?" she echoed. I nodded with a limp shrug. She held me close again, letting my presence calm her. I hugged her back, and winked to the others over her shoulder. Lewis gave me a questioning look, and Emma, realizing I'd lied, gave me a warning glare. She never lied to anyone. Cleo didn't catch it. Rikki saw, but she kept her mouth shut. No doubt she had pulled that several times before herself.

"I have to call the police and tell them you're back," Mom finally panted.

"You called the police?"

"Of course! What else would any parent do?" I smiled, feeling mildly important.

Mom went to the kitchen to call the police back, and Rikki practically dragged me up to my room.

"What happened?" I was pretty much thrown onto the bed, and the others pulled up a chair or clustered before me when both were taken.

"I really don't know. I had been planning a midnight swim around Mako to mark my first month of being a mermaid and to catch some night life underwater footage with my new video camera. I accidently pressed play when I surfaced for a breath, and while I tried to turn it back, I looked up at the moon and that weird green star. That's all I remember. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor of the Moonpool with my camera." I decided to leave out the bit about my wings for a while. The others showed no indication that they had wings.

"You looked at the full moon?" Lewis groaned.

"Yes, why?" I asked hesitantly. Did I do something wrong?

"The moon does something to us," Emma explained. "It puts us under some sort of moon spell. The first time, we didn't know either, and I looked at it. I jumped into the water, and even when I was completely dry, my tail didn't go away until the moon sank in the morning. I did some pretty strange things, too. Last night, the moon turned Cleo into a siren. She had wet hands but no tail, and must have attracted a hundred teenage boys with her voice."

"That happened to me, too! Well, sort of. I was singing too, but I had my tail and I didn't attract anyone."

"You said you didn't remember anything."

"I didn't. I accidently video taped myself, remember?"

"Do you still have it?"

"Of course. I hid it in the bushes outside so Mom wouldn't ask to look at it."

"Smooth move."

"Well, go get it!"

"I can't get it yet. Mom would catch me."

"Okay, where is it exactly?" I walked over my window, and opened it. I pointed down into the cluster of bushes below my window, and Lewis glanced in the direction I indicated.

"I'll get it." He walked quickly out of the room.

"The whole eye thing is kind of creepy," I commented with a shiver.

"What eye thing?"

"You know- the foggy pupils? Just the look of that creeps me out."

"That's a new side effect." The girls exchanged glances. I groaned. Was I really that different? Why was I reacting to everything mermaid so much differently than they were. What made me so special?


	7. Chapter 8: Seeking Answers

**Chapter 8**

**Seeking Answers**

"Got it," Lewis called softly, coming back through the doorway with my camera. He was going to press play, but I took it from him. I brought it over to my desk and proceeded to hook it up to my laptop so we had a bigger screen. They clustered around as I hit the play button. I had rewound the tape to start at the beginning.

My face appeared on the screen. I looked out at my audience, trying to turn it off for a few seconds before the moon caught my eye. Then my pupils went misty.

"I can't remember anything after this point," I whispered as the video continued.

I flipped up onto a rock with ease, and balanced perfectly. I raised my head until it was completely bathed in the moonlight. I opened my mouth, and the most beautiful, liquid notes I had ever heard poured out.

"Wow," Cleo started. "That's beautiful."

"So were you," Lewis reminded.

"You're right, though. The eye thing is creepy."

"It doesn't even sound like me singing."

"What _are_ you singing?"

"The song has no words, but it sounds like you're singing some distinguishable syllables," Lewis agreed. I listened closely.

I sang the same phrases over and over, forming a continuous cycle. It was as if I was only singing half of the words to it.

"-oon… our… mo'her… ars… ides… shun… ome… nea… ters… gli… sea… chi… ren… mus… ome… to… ers… ill… ake… journey… ti… ome…" What was that supposed to mean? It couldn't all be gibberish- I had sung the entire word, journey. I took out a notepad and copied down all of the syllables I heard to the best of my ability. The cycle repeated several times.

We got bored of the same cycle, and stopped watching, though I left it on. I wanted to be absolutely sure that nothing new happened. Lewis, however, continued to watch with intent.

I flopped on the bed belly first, propping myself up on my elbows. Cleo sat on the corner of the bed beside me, Emma chose the bean bag, and Rikki took the only other real chair in the room.

"I think we should go back to that same rock you were sitting on, or at least the general area. Maybe we'll find a clue."

"At this rate, Mom won't let me out of her sight for a week. I'll be lucky if I can go out at all on my own within the month."

"I guess we'll be spending more time together," Rikki joked. "We can babysit." I gave her a cold look.

"There!" Lewis exclaimed. I jumped back up and leaned in over his shoulder. I had just sat down! It was Murphy's Law, and Murphy hates me. Lewis paused the video and rewound it.

I ended another phrase, and I suddenly jerked and slid off the rock into the water. A bright blur of silver flashed out behind me as I toppled back into the sea. _My wings_, I thought gravely. I reappeared momentarily right in front of the camera, directly addressing my audience. I spoke only six words.

"The answer is in the song." The camera ran out of juice, leaving us with nothing but static.

"Whoa," Lewis muttered, dumfounded at my last words. Silence hung over the room.

"I think we need to start spending a lot more time together," Emma stated flatly.

I hadn't ever really been 'part of the group,' even after Rikki and I spent the night out swimming. Our grade levels didn't really mix. If we were seen together in public, it could drag them down in their social status.

"You sure?"

"How else are we going to figure out what's going on with us _all_? If we're all separate, we can't discuss what's been going on, and it makes it harder for Lewis to work."

"Thank you," he said, thankful for the slack.

"Lewis has hardly started on your tests," Cleo agreed.

"We can't leave you out."

"I can get started right away," he offered.

"No, no, don't worry about me. Running two projects at a time doesn't work. Trust me, I've tried."

"I can do it."

"I'm fine for now," I assured.

"You're certain? That doesn't seem so fair to you."

"The needs of the many outweigh those of the few," I grinned. Lewis shrugged in defeat.

"Alright, but you told me so," he accused. I translated it to mean roughly, it was your decision, not mine. That was fine by me.

"Let's see if we can convince your mom that we're worthy babysitters," Rikki suggested. I clenched my fist in annoyance, accidently setting the trash bin on fire. I groaned in annoyance as Cleo quickly doused it with the full water canteen resting on my desk.

"I have to work on that." Rikki laughed good naturedly after me, and Emma playfully swatted my back as she nudged me out the door downstairs.


	8. Chapter 9: The Lorelei

**Chapter 9**

**The Lorelei**

I received a phone call from Emma just after I had dinner. She had finally met Mrs. Chatham on the boat docks today, the mysterious older woman Cleo was always babbling about.

Zane, the snobby teen with an insanely rich father who often tormented the girls was picking on her. Her houseboat on which she lived had come loose and scratched his jet ski, and he had overreacted and pulled the Harbor Master into the matter.

Zane had troubled the older woman so much that he had given her a heart attack. They had to call the ambulance. Emma was calling a meeting at her house to talk about it.

Mom, still freaked out about my sudden disappearance the other night, refused to let me come unless I was escorted to and from the house by someone. Much to my dismay, Rikki came to my rescue and teased me about it the whole trip to Emma's house.

Upon our arrival, Emma quickly summed up the previous events.

"The ambulance guy said it couldn't have been more serious. She's still taking her medication."

"Poor lady. Her name is… Mrs. Chatham." Cleo paused, recalling the name.

"Is she that weird old lady that lives on the boat?"

"Yeah, that's her. How do you know her?"

"No, no, I don't, I just heard about her. She lives on that leaky old wreck. No friends, no family- all alone."

"She's the one that seems to know all about the full moon, and our powers, and our tails."

"Some people say she's a witch."

"And if they said she was a seal would you believe that?"

"There was a time I didn't believe in mermaids, either." Cleo considered this thoughtfully. I snorted. Talk about childish banter!

"Would she be accepting visitors?" I asked cautiously. I'd like to talk to this Mrs. Chatham myself.

"I don't think so. I asked her, but she just started rambling on about a 'treasure.'" A treasure?

"What about a treasure?"

"That they wanted her treasure. I don't know what it is or where it is. She just told me not to let them get her treasure." I considered this. Well, I guess we couldn't let them get her treasure.

The first thing the next morning, I sent Sylvie on a mission. I brought her to the docks where all of the boats were. Mrs. Chatham's boat, I assumed, was an old, leaky looking thing. I knew it was hers because it had been all taped off. I made sure no one was near, and slipped underneath the caution tape. I let Sylvie loose inside.

"Make sure no one gets in, or out. You come find me when and if anyone unwanted shows up, besides the Harbor Master. If he comes, just make sure he doesn't take anything," I instructed. Sylvie puffed out her chest in reply and glided away to the couch inside. I didn't think anyone could see her, but I'd rather not put that to the test.

Emma called again just an hour later. We were all to meet again at her house. Since I had gotten away this morning without an escort, I somehow managed it again. Rikki was already there, talking to Mrs. Gilbert and snacking on something. She waved me over, so I took a seat and peered into the bowl surrounded by crackers. It looked like some sort of pasta with ragu. I decided I could do without.

"So where is Emma anyway?"

"I don't know. She just said she was going out for a while."

"That's alright- no hurry. I'm sure I can while away the time." The door clicked open from the other room.

"Sounds like her now," her mother commented.

"Or Cleo," I pointed out, seeing as though she had not yet arrived either. However, her mother was right. Rikki got up.

"It's about time. Where have you… been?" She froze when she saw Mrs. Chatham being led slowly in by Emma. I walked up on Rikki's side.

"Don't stare. It's rude."

"You must be Mrs. Chatham," I said slowly. The older woman smiled.

"Mrs. Chatham, this is-"

"You must be Rikki."

"Uh, yeah," she confirmed hesitantly.

"And you," she turned to me. "I don't know your name."

"Call me Silver," I returned with a nod.

"Uh, Mum," Emma called around the corner. Mrs. Gilbert appeared momentarily. "We've got a house guest. The hospital discharged Mrs. Chatham. She'll be fine if she takes her medication and gets some rest. I thought this would be a good place for that, okay?"

"Uh," her mother shrugged casually, trying to figure out how to phrase refusal without outright denying the woman's stay. "That'll be fine, Darling" she finally caved. "Hello, I'm Lisa." She extended a hand.

"I don't want to be a bother." Mrs. Chatham pulled Lisa Gilbert a little closer, almost unbalancing her. "It's just that Emma insisted. She can have a very strong will."

"Yes, I've noticed," the other woman smiled, getting up. "Could we have a word, please?" she asked Emma.

"Yeah, sure." Her mother practically dragged her into the other room. I could finally have my little talk with this strange woman.

"How did you know all of their names, but not mine?" I began.

"You're different than they are," she replied simply.

"What's this treasure you mentioned to Emma?" I tried. I received no strait answer.

"My treasure," she echoed. "They want my treasure…"

"They won't get your treasure," I assured. My face reddened slightly. "I hope you don't mind. I posted my pet lizard, Sylvie, on guard. If anyone tries to get in, she'll tell me." Mrs. Chatham grinned, and Rikki gave me a look that said, 'you can talk crazy among the group only.' I blushed an even deeper red and added, "I know that sounds crazy…"

"Oh, of course not! You mean your sea wyrm." My head shot up. Knowing about our tails was one thing, knowing about Sylvie was another.

"How do you know about her? What did you call Sylvie? A _sea wyrm_?"

"That's what she is called."

"Sorry I'm late. I-" Cleo's eyes bulged at the sight of our guest.

"Hello, Cleo," Mrs. Chatham greeted cheerily.

"Oh, hi," she returned, slightly uncomfortable.

"Alright, Mrs. Chatham, if you'd like to come with me, I'll show you to the spare room," Lisa offered.

"Oh, you're very kind." She got up, and patted Emma's cheek gratefully. She then allowed herself to be led down the hall by Mrs. Gilbert. "Is that your natural hair color," Mrs. Chatham asked softly. I tried to refrain a chuckle. I was wary of her, yes, but she was funny without trying to be.

"You brought her here?" Rikki thundered when they were out of earshot.

"What could I do? The Harbor Master wants to remove her boat from the marina. He says she can't stay there."

"But you brought her _here_."

"Just for a while. We'll try to talk to the Harbor Master- make him see some reason."

"Emma, this old lady knows about us," Cleo agreed.

"And Sylvie, a lizard she can't even see," I added.

"What if she says something to your mum or dad?"

"She won't. She's smart, and I'm sure she's discrete."

"You hope."

"Look, Cleo, we're probably worrying about nothing. I mean, has she actually ever said to you, 'I know you're a mermaid?'"

"Not in those words exactly. But everything she said about the full moon turned out to be true, didn't it?" We looked at each other nervously.

"I have Sylvie posted in her boat. She'll probably poke around a bit," I put in.

"I wonder if it's even safe for her to be there. I mean, Mrs. Chatham knows about her, but I doubt she can actually see her. And she seemed to know what kind of lizard she was. What did she say? A sea wyrm?"

"Sea wyrm," I echoed. I had heard that term before, 'wyrm,' but where? "I'm going to go check on her," I decided hastily. I left the room at a brisk pace, heading back for the marina.

I found Sylvie half asleep in a comfy looking armchair. I grinned and rubbed her back awake.

"Hey, girl." She made a fluttering-chirping sound in a groggy greeting. "Keep your eyes peeled, Sylvie. I talked to the old woman, Mrs. Chatham. She knows more than she's telling. She even knows about you." Sylvie's eyes widened in alarm, but then relaxed, as if remembering that it was alright.

I plopped down beside her on the arm chair. "Are you a sea wyrm, girl?" She didn't respond. She only crawled over on her two front legs as rubbed up against me. I stroked her side and sighed.

"Alright, then. Behave," I warned. "And don't fall asleep until night. Otherwise you'll miss any thieves." She just grinned up at me. It wasn't like it mattered. She was a light sleeper anyway.

The next morning, I was again contacted by Emma. She was gathering us up to do a paint job on Mrs. Chatham's boat, the Lorelei. When I asked Mom if it would be alright, she insisted on a chaperone. Fortunately, Cleo came to my rescue and was very nice about it. I guess she understood as well.

Emma handed out the brushes and paint cans as we met on the way there. Rikki didn't look too happy about it. I didn't mind; I liked art. My only concern was working so close to the water.

Rikki's complaints became more intense as we reached the marina.

"Rikki, it's her home. We have to help her."

"You're kidding. It's a pile of junk!" We reached the boat I had stationed Sylvie at. It wasn't so bad. I didn't know what Rikki was talking about. It did look rather homey, and even more so from the inside. I kind of liked it, though I agreed it needed a new coat of paint.

"A coat of paint will spruce it up. Now stop arguing and start painting."

"It needs more than paint. It needs a new boat." Cleo nodded her agreement. I was about to argue that that wasn't possible, but thought better of it.

"Rikki being negative- what a surprise."

"Get real! We can't do this."

"And even if you did, it's not going to make a difference." I almost jumped out of my skin when the Harbor Master walked up. "I know you're trying to help, but you're wasting your time. The boat's got rust all through its structural framework. Do I need to go on? She's better off without it."

"That is _your_ opinion, not mine." Mrs. Chatham decided to join us as well. "I'll be leaving now, thank you."

"You know you can't do that. I've referred this matter on. It's being impounded by the water police. It's not sea worthy."

"It's my _home_. I _live_ here."

"Mrs. Chatham, they're just doing what they think is right. They're trying to help."

"I want to get my things!" Then in a lower voice she added, "They're just after my treasure."

"Let's just go back to my place- get you home."

"But I want what's mine! They're after my treasure!" Emma began leading the distressed woman away, past Zane and his friend, Nate. I didn't like the way Zane looked between her, us, and her boat. I would have to warn Sylvie about him later. I did my best to knock him off balance as I passed, without success.

When we had reached the sandy stretch of the beach, I excused myself.

"I'm going out to Mako Island. I want to find out what I can about the moon episode the other night. I almost forgot about it."

"Would you like one of us to come with you?"

"Only if you want. It might make Mrs. Chatham more suspicious, though."

"She can't get much more suspicious. She discretely pointed out Cleo's power already." My eyes widened a bit, but I said nothing. I only stuck my hands in my pockets, kept my head down and veered off towards the water.

I spent most of the afternoon there, swimming around the rocky shores and investigating the pool itself. I didn't find anything, really. However, while I was alone, I used the opportunity to examine my wings in further detail.

I concentrated on them, and to my delight but also to my horror, they sprouted with a sickening crunch. I was almost surprised at the feel of them. It was like having an arm coming out of your back. They didn't hurt at all, but they did feel strange. I stretched one out, and then the other.

They didn't look nearly strong enough, or even large enough, to carry me up into the air. I decided to put that to the test. I perched on the side of the Moonpool, and then began flapping them with long, hard strokes. It was hard work, especially with the weight of my tail. I almost gave up, but I slowly began to feel myself rise into the air. When my entire body and two thirds of my tail were up in the air, I stopped, and let myself splash back down. It was a frightening but thrilling sensation.

I decided to teach myself how to fly, but over time, and I still wouldn't let the girls know. Something about their knowing I had wings made me uneasy. Mermaids didn't have wings, so what did that make me? Was I really one of them after all?

I had taken my cell phone with me this time in my pant pocket, and it rang around seven o'clock. I was alarmed at how much time I had spent here. It was Cleo inviting me to Emma's house for dinner. I turned this offer down. I wanted to be alone for a while.

I must have fallen asleep in the pool, because Sylvie woke me up. She had flown in through the top, screeching and squealing with alarm.

"What's wrong, Sylvie?" I asked fearfully. She pointed a claw outside with another squeal. "Is it the Lorelei?" Sylvie bobbed her head up and down urgently. I hissed in anger without realizing what I'd done. I dove into the cold water and charged off in the direction of the marina. Sylvie flew overhead, trying to keep pace with me.

When I reached the boat, the engine had started, and it was beginning to take off. I jumped out of the water and landed on the deck, and instantly dried myself in record time so no one saw. I cautiously tiptoed into the front room. Mrs. Chatham was trying to take off with it. Sylvie perched on my shoulder.

"Is this all you came to tell me about?" I whispered irritably. Sylvie nodded her head vigorously. I rolled my eyes. "It's her boat, and I won't tell anyone." I took another look through the window at the unsuspecting woman. "I will keep an eye on her, though."

I dove off and called Mom. She didn't seem to realize how late it was, and answered casually.

"Hey Mom, do you think it would be alright if I had an impromptu sleepover at Emma's?"

"That blonde girl?" She asked.

"The former swimming champion," I confirmed. "Not the one that picked me up the other day."

"I don't see why not. Just be back in time to feed the dogs in the morning."

"I'll try." I hung up, and hid it in a cluster of dry rocks where I would be sure to find it later. Then, I pushed myself back into the water and pursued the boat. I would just make sure she got to her destination safely.

I pursued the escaping boat underwater for the entire night and a good portion of the morning. Surprisingly, I wasn't at all tired. _So much for feeding the dogs,_ I thought ruefully with a hint of amusement in my tone.

Nothing changed until about nine o'clock in the morning that next morning. Zane's small boat sped up to the houseboat. His small motor was droned out by the large, loud engines of the Lorelei. I fell back to see what he was up to. He circled around the Lorelei, and Mrs. Chatham obviously saw him. She tried to urge the boat on, but it sputtered to a halt. Zane's boat lined up alongside hers. I didn't like the looks of this.

Zane boarded the boat. Once he was busy with Mrs. Chatham, I pulled up alongside them. On the other side, Lewis pulled up in his boat with Emma. She instantly grabbed his schooner so he couldn't get away.

"It wasn't my fault! I didn't do anything!" he cried. I climbed up and dried myself before poking my head through the door.

"Why, you little snitch! What have you done?" I screeched. Mrs. Chatham lay sprawled on her armchair. I rushed to her side and searched for a pulse.

"How'd you get here?"

"In the boat, you Idiot. Get away! You've done enough." I didn't know much about medical conditions, but I'd say she was in pretty bad shape. Her pulse was awfully faint. Emma and Lewis boarded as well.

"She's still breathing," Lewis finally announced.

"Zane, there's got to be some pills down there. Go take a look," Emma demanded. He obeyed with a guilt-stricken look on his face. I hummed soothingly on instinct. What else could I do?

Zane returned with some pills, and Lewis got her onto his boat. I hopped in as well.

"Thanks, Zane. Come on, get in."

"She'll be alright," he assured, going back in. "I'm staying."

"Zane, if you touch any of her things…" Emma warned.

"I'll catch up."

"There isn't time to argue, let's go!" Lewis pointed out. They took off, but I dove back in.

"He was hunting for her treasure earlier. I'll make sure it stays safe," I called back with a wave. Emma nodded with a slight eye roll as if she knew he was up to something like that all along. I wouldn't put it past him.

I swam back up to the Lorelei. Zane had shut the door behind him. I swam up underneath it and pressed my ear up close to it. Sometimes the water could pick up sound waves and transmit it through a conductor, such as the boat.

"So much for the treasure," I heard faintly. The sound was muffled and watery.

Suddenly, there was a concussive explosion from the engine room. Unfortunately, I was pressed up just beneath them. The explosion caught me by the side of my face, and I floated in the water in a daze.

When I had regained my senses, I noticed that the water by the left side of my face was bloody. I touched the tender skin and winced. It must have been pretty bad. I tried to shake off the pain for the time being and think clearly. Zane was still in there. I had to go make sure he was alright.

The ship was halfway to the sea bottom by the time I had comprehended that I needed to get down there. I heard the low, echoey thudding of someone pounding on the door, trying to get out. It must have been stuck.

I was swimming at a very slow rate for my injuries. When I cautiously peered through the window, I saw Zane trying to stay conscious beside the door. He hadn't seen me. When I assumed he was unconscious, I tried the door from the outside. It didn't budge. So, I needed to resort to plan B. I bashed the door with my tail, then flipped around and repeated the operation from the other side.

When the door broke free, I realized through the window that he was still awake, and was trying to sum up the energy to look my way. I weakly swam out of view. I waited another minute before checking again. His eyes were closed. I then swam back in and grabbed him. With a few strong strokes, I pulled him to the surface. Emma was joining us.

"What happened? Are you alright?" I couldn't find enough sense to put words together, so I merely nodded and closed my eyes from the pain.

"Get him to shore. I'll catch up to Lewis's boat," I managed to gasp. Emma started to argue, but didn't. She just nodded and towed Zane's limp body over to his boat, which was still intact.

I paddled over to Lewis's motor boat and when I caught up, gripped the edge and pulled myself over.

"Are you alright?" He asked instantly as I summed up the strength to dry myself. I nodded weakly. Though dry, the side of my face was still sticky with blood. I nodded in a daze. I was feeling a bit lightheaded from the blood loss. "No you're not," he realized, leaning over to feel my forehead.

Why would I have a temperature? I had been caught on the side of the face with a massive explosion! Everything became blurry, and dark, and I finally went unconscious myself.

I woke up in a hospital two days later. The whole left side of my face was patched up. Mom was freaking out. The second I woke up I was being bombarded with a continuous stream of questions. I couldn't manage any words just then, but I had to smile.

The girls were permitted to visit me the next day. Emma answered my mom's questions. She said I was caught in the explosion while we were trying to help Mrs. Chatham, which was truth enough. After that, Mom almost started crying with pride and called me a hero. I almost laughed at the change in attitude. She tried to make a big deal of it, but I shrugged it off.

Emma managed to get me alone later.

"Zane saw you, or your tail, at least," she informed.

"My face had been torn open! I couldn't move so fast," I protested. She calmed me down with a reassuring hand.

"It's alright, we understand. I just wanted to let you know. I wish it had been one of us, though. Our tails all look alike; one of us could pass for another. You're different, though. We'll have to keep him off your tail." I grinned slyly.

"Leave that to me."

I missed a lot of school, and was kept in the hospital for a good portion of the month. It was pretty bad. When I was finally discharged, I still had to leave the bandages on and change them out for fresh ones every three days to keep out infection.

Mom wouldn't let me see what was under them. I didn't know why until the last week of the month when they came off permanently. I wanted to vomit. The left side of my face was completely scarred, permanently ruined. This would earn me a new nickname. Scarface.


	9. Chapter 10: My Song

**Chapter 10**

**My Song**

I woke up with a start. I'd had some dream last night, but I couldn't remember much of it. All I knew is that I was swimming with three other girls- Rikki, Emma and Cleo maybe? - and we were far out in deep, black, murky water, swimming ever deeper trying to reach something. Sylvie was there too. I gave it up with a shrug. I wouldn't be able to remember, so why bother?

I looked over at my clock. Five thirty? I collapsed back onto my bed with shock. I was _never_ up this early. I lay there for another five minutes, but realized that I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, so I got up and dressed. I looked at my calendar to cross off another day, but my blood turned cold with dread. It was another full moon.

I was half excited, but half nervous. I had been thinking over what I'd said into the video camera the first night: 'the answer is in the song.' I wasn't sure what it meant, nor was I sure that I wanted to know what it meant. I had a feeling, though, that I would have to sing again tonight to find out.

I got ready for school and read a book until it was time to go. I surprised Mom by leaving before she was even changed, and she nearly had a heart attack when she saw that I'd also been bored enough to make her breakfast. I lasted through school and met up with the girls during their lunch and my five minute break. We were going to meet up at Cleo's house after school.

I walked to Cleo's with them, keeping my head down and tossing my hair in a curtain-like fashion to hide the scarred left side of my face. Even the girls had trouble looking past that now.

Emma got out a moon cycle board and set it for today's date to confirm it was a full moon.

"That's it. Tonight's a full moon." There was a long pause.

"This is making me nervous," Cleo put in finally.

"You'll be fine. You two just need to control yourselves a little better this time."

"And where does that put me?" I interjected abruptly.

"You too, now that you've been warned."

"You're not immune to it, you know, Rikki."

"I'm pretty sure I can resist the big bad moon, even if you can't."

"I'm pretty sure we can all resist the big bad moon. I'd just rather be prepared."

"Not me." I'd made up my mind.

"What?"

"I'm going to go out there and just face it tonight." I explained.

"Are you crazy?"

"Look, last full moon, I told myself through the camera that the answer was in the song. I take that to mean that the explanation will be in the lyrics. I'll film myself again, or if all else fails, have Lewis listen to a verse or so."

"That's crazy!"

"But it could mean answers. That's a risk I'm willing to take. I'll go out to Mako again where no one will be likely to find me."

"No! It's too dangerous!" I flipped my hair aside and again revealed my scars. A hush went over the room as they attracted their eyes.

"This was dangerous too, but it saved a life. Now, if this gets us answers, it might be a matter of life and death in the future. I am going to Mako Island tonight." This time, no one argued.

The doorbell rang. Naturally, since it was her house, Cleo answered it. I was astonished to turn around and see Zane. What did he want?

He took a few steps in and saw us. His gaze hung on to my scars for a moment. I'd forgotten about them, and instantly covered them over.

"What happened to your face?"

"Do you have a problem with my face?" He dropped the matter instantly.

"Uh, is your dad home? I need a word." Cleo looked at us uncertainly, but what choice did she have? She hurried around to the back room to go and fetch him. I kept my head down, my entire face concealed as Zane slowly followed her.

We sat on the comfortable chairs in the front, waiting in silence as Zane spoke with Cleo's father in the back. We glanced uneasily amongst ourselves, and I hid my face behind my curtain. Zane left in a bit of a huff. I had a bad feeling this was about his 'sea monster.'

When I saved Zane from the sinking Lorelei, he'd seen my tail. I hadn't heard anything myself since I had been in the hospital or homebound since my face was caught in the explosion. However, the girls had brought back reports that he was still going on about the 'sea monster' that saved him. I promised the girls that I would handle this, and I would stick to my word.

I jumped up after him and followed him through the doorway.

"You're looking for that sea monster of yours, aren't you?" I hung casually in the open doorway. He turned back around halfway down the drive. I'd made sure to cover my scars this time. He nodded, and studied my blank expression for a moment.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Well, I could say you were hallucinating, but that would be no fun." I stalked down the drive to catch up. "What'd it look like?"

"You do believe me?"

"Yeah. I love all of that so called 'fantasy' and mythical stuff. Cool beans, I say."

"What?"

"Never mind. What did it look like, though?" Rather than replying, he pulled out a crude pencil sketch. I took it and looked it over with a critical eye.

"The skin was light blue with streaks of white and gray, and sort of shimmery. It was strong and powerful, but sort of… elegant. It would have been tough and soft and smooth and strong- really, really strong." I pretended to look at it from another angle.

"That's funny," I muttered. "It looks like a… tigertail."

"A what?" I got out my drawing pouch that I always took along with me in reply. I found my new, small portfolio which had few pictures in it. I flipped to a page I had just recently done of myself swimming above the sunken Lorelei. Fortunately, it was from the top angle, and did not reveal my face. It wasn't very good or detailed, either.

Zane took the picture from me and stared at it.

"Where'd you get this?"

"I drew it. I was reading a book a long time ago about mermaids, and that was one of the characters. She popped back into my mind not long ago and I felt like drawing her."

"What book? What's her name?"

"I don't know. That was five years ago. I can't remember that far back."

"This is exactly what I saw." He paused, looking it over again. "Can I keep this?"

"Nope. You can keep this one." I handed him another sketch of the same mermaid but a different setting. "This is my good one. That one, eh, I don't care what you do with it."

"Thanks." He started to walk away.

"I'll try to find that book for you, if you want," I called after him. He nodded eagerly with a half grin.

"That'd be great."

"No promises! It'll take me a month to go through all the junk in Mom's attic!" He laughed as he walked away with the picture. I turned with a grin on my own face to see three very cross girls in the doorway.

"What ARE you doing?" Rikki demanded. "That was a pretty accurate picture of you!"

"Relax," I assured. "I know what I'm doing. Ever heard of keeping your enemies close? This way I can give him false info, and try to lead him off of our trail. It's foolproof- almost."

"This had better work," Emma warned. I rolled my eyes. She was a bit of a worry wart. However, she still wasn't my mother.

I passed Lewis on his way in. He was bringing supplies to 'full moon proof' the house.

"Where are you going?" he called as I passed him.

"To Mako!" I shouted back.

"Are you crazy? It's a full moon tonight!"

"Ask the girls! They'll fill you in." I turned the corner, but poked my head back. "Oh, and Lewis, if you find a minute or two sometime during the night, it'd be great if you could listen into the song if plan A fails."

"Wait, what?" I just continued on my way. It was almost time for the full moon to rise, and I still needed to clear the memory on this camera (after saving it to the computer of course) so that I would have a full chip tonight.

I took it with me to Mako. I set it on the rocks facing me with my finger on play. The full moon would rise, and I would be ready.

I saw the edge of the moon peek over the horizon in the distance, and my first instinct was to hit play. However, just that small sliver became overpowering, and I became moon blinked as they say in the Owls of Ga'hoole books, and I never did. That was the last thing I remembered that night.

I woke up in Emma's house that morning on the couch. No one was there, but two notes had been left for me. The first read:

Silver,

Rikki was moonstruck last night and ran away to Mako. We've gone off to find her.

Be back soon,

Lewis

The second read:

Silver,

You were right about singing again last night. This time, there were real words. Here are the requested lyrics to your song.

**I sing to Luna,**

**I sing to Gitu,**

**I sing to Dray,**

**I sing to Take,**

**And I sing to Orm.**

**Send me the others**

**So that we may journey**

**And return to our origins, **

**And restore balance.**

I'm not sure what it means, but I'll be more than happy to help you decipher it.

I pondered over the words. What on Earth did this mean? A little voice in the back of my head asked another question. Was it even from Earth?


	10. Chapter 11: The Deciphering

**Chapter 11**

**Deciphering**

I found the girls at the JuiceNet café later around noon. Zane had just entered as well, and was approaching them. He looked extremely sun burned. I hung back a bit to watch.

"Wilfred, can I get another bottle of water? Large and chilled," Zane ordered, slapping the cash into the café owner's hand.

"Whoa, Dude, you got to keep out of the sun," Wilfred pointed out, leaving to fill his customer's order.

"Rikki? Why were you at Mako Island last night?" Uh oh. This was bad.

"Was I?"

"Yeah, you were. And something really weird happened." Rikki looked uncomfortable. "What I mean is… that must have been one h*** of a kiss." I almost screamed both in shock and in anger. Was it not possible for someone to end a sentence without using such foul words? "I can't remember anything after it happened. Can you?"

"Look Zane. What I do and why I do it is none of your concern."

"What about all the stuff you said?"

"What I said is exactly that. Stuff. Forget it, okay?" She lost eye contact with him, and Cleo looked down in amused shock.

"You chicks are weird." Zane straitened up and looked around uncertainly. Upon spotting me in the doorway, though, he instantly headed in my direction.

"Did you find that book yet?" I shook my head, letting more hair fall in front of my scars.

"I haven't gotten past Mom's winter coats. She's got about five boxes full. I'll let you know when and if I find it."

"I've got something I want you to look at, too. It's the door from the Lorelei wreck. It's pretty bashed up and none of the local fishermen can tell me what could have done it. You know a lot about mythical creatures, right?" I nodded. "Do you think you could tell what did it?"

"That depends," I explained. "I'll take a look, though. It's worth a shot."

"It's over at my place. Can I meet you somewhere?" I shrugged.

"That's fine. How about the dock this weekend? Say, tomorrow at noon?" He nodded and went on to take his water from Wilfred. I took a few long strides to join the girls.

"YOU KISSED HIM?" I hissed. Rikki shrugged.

"I can't remember anything that happened last night." I huffed.

"Welcome to my world."

"Did you get the song lyrics Lewis wrote down for you?" I groped for them in my pocket.

"Yep. It doesn't make any sense, though."

"How did you know that you would be singing again tonight?"

"Lucky guess. I assumed I would, since 'the answer is in the song.' I'm even more lost than before, though."

"Let me see them." I handed the sheet to Rikki, who squinted to decipher them.

"Lewis really needs to work on his handwriting." I sneered in agreement. She read slowly aloud as she deciphered the scribbles:

**I sing to Luna,**

**I sing to Gitu,**

**I sing to Dray,**

**I sing to Take,**

**And I sing to Orm.**

**Send me the others**

**So that we may journey**

**And return to our origins, **

**And restore balance.**

"Let's ignore the Luna, Gitu, Dray and Orm for a moment," she decided, "because that currently sounds like gibberish. I sing to take might mean something, though."

"But why would that be put in the middle of the gibberish words, though?"

"They probably mean something too, but we obviously don't know yet. If we figure this line out, then maybe they will make a little more sense." I was taken aback. She sounded as diplomatic as Emma. Hey, where was she anyway?

"Where's Emma anyway?" I asked, scanning the café for any sign of her.

"When Rikki's heating power went out of control last night, it made a complete mess, and to cover for it, Emma had to tell her parents there was a party. She got grounded."

"That's a shame," I sighed. I felt sorry for her as I realized that we would all have to make sacrifices to cover for each other from now on.

"I sing to take…" Cleo echoed thoughtfully. "Take what?"

"And what are these 'others' that it's talking about? Journey where? What's been unbalanced?" I groaned. There were so many unanswered questions!

"Hey, chin up. We'll figure it out eventually."

"And how many more songs will I have to go through?"

"Let's start simple. This line seems simple enough: 'And return to our origins.' Where were you born?"

"Poplar Bluff, Missouri, in America. No where near water."

"Okay, that's the first step."

"Was there anything that seemed unbalanced there?"

"Nothing unusual, other than politics."

"The song said to 'journey.' I assume that means by water, right? So if there's no water in Poplar Bluff, there's no way to get there. Maybe it doesn't mean your birthplace."

"That's what origin means, though."

"Maybe not in this instance."

"Let's try the other line. 'Send me the others.' Who is it referring to?"

"It must be a mermaid."

"Not necessarily. If it really does mean that you're going home to Missouri, it might just mean someone to take you."

"Or maybe it means us," Cleo suggested fearfully."

"You're much different than me. I'm sure that's not the case," I assured. Cleo looked a little better.

As I stared at the words, a connection snapped in my mind.

"Luna! Luna is the name of our moon!"

"The moon has a name?"

"Of course. Jupiter and Saturn have tons of moons with names, so why not Earth? It's also the Spanish word for moon. That must mean something, considering that we get moonstruck during the full moon."

"The moon makes us mermaids," Cleo agreed.

"That's a clue. Maybe Gitu, Dray and Orm are moons too?"

"Or stars." I remembered how that weird green-blue star always caught my eye.

"Stars?"

"There's this one weird green-blue star that always catches my eye, full moon or not. There's something creepy about it."

"You'll have to show us tonight."

"I can show you now," I insisted, eyeing the free computer that just opened up. I claimed the seat and looked up star charts on Google. The girls tucked in behind me as I zoomed in on the area around the moon. "That's weird. It's not on this one. It should be right there." I used the mouse to circle around one general area to the bottom left corner of the moon. I looked up another one, and then another. I began to panic. It wasn't on any of these charts! Was this something only I could see as well?

"I swear it should be right there."

"I believe you. Maybe only you can see it, like you're the only one who can see Sylvie," Rikki suggested, speaking my fear. I closed my eyes and prayed for it to not be true.

I opened them again and glanced at the digital clock in the corner of the screen for an excuse to get away.

"I'd better go," I finally said, shutting down the internet.

"But today is Friday. We have the whole weekend to do homework. Stay awhile."

"Not homework," I corrected with a grin. "Writing. I have a whole book to write for Zane." They still didn't get it. "There is no such book about a 'tigertail' mermaid; I made it up. I still promised him a book, so I'm going to write one myself and have it professionally bound and all that jazz. Hopefully he'll take it as a false lead and keep him away from Mako."

"Good luck with that."

I already had the basic story structure down, and I knew how it would start. That was good, because I only had until dinner, about three hours from now, to get a good start on it. Sylvie was going to meet me at Mako Island later to teach me how to fly properly with my newly found wings.

I figured that if I did a minimum of a third of a chapter a day and wrote around 12 to 18 chapters, I could be done in a little over a month. (I thought that I could really do at least half of a chapter a day, but I thought it was a good idea to give myself some extra time.) I typed really fast, though, so that would help as well.

I returned to my house and went strait up to my room. I tossed my bag onto my bed and plopped down in front of my desk. I flipped up the top of my laptop before opening up a Microsoft word document. I headed the page 'Chapter 1' and hesitated. I wanted it to sound like an adult had written it, and not like a 14 year old girl had improvised. The opening sentence and the following first paragraphs would give the biggest first impression. How should I begin?

The words finally came to me, and I grinned. Perfect! I placed the cursor along the next line and placed my fingers on the keyboard.

_The full moon rose above the ocean, and its reflection rippled smoothly along the watery surface._


	11. Chapter 12: Storytelling

**Chapter 12**

**Storytelling**

_The full moon rose above the ocean, and its reflection rippled smoothly along the watery surface. A single head emerged from the ocean depths and watched the moon rise. Another head peered out of the waters, and was followed by another and then another. More and more of the sea people made their way to the surface to join the first to watch the moon rise until it reached its peak. The last member of the sea people rose, this one different from all others. _

"_It is time."_

_The odd race of merlins ducked under the sea, the moonlight glinting eerily off of their tails which substituted for legs. The majority of them were female, all with golden-orange tails, strongly built. The males' were green-gray and shark like, yet they moved with equal grace. _

_The multitude of merlins traveled loosely, following the last unique arrival with a striped tail as she took up point position. She has dark red hair that flowed out behind her like a cape, covering her shoulders and a good deal of her back. This particular merlin did not have the traditional golden orange tail of all other females. Her tail was the least shimmery, for it was not metallic, yet it may have been the most beautiful. It was a dozen shades of blue and white and striped with gray like the mighty land creature of legend humans called a 'tiger.' This earned her the title of 'Tigertail.' _

_The people of the deep made their way to the Cave. The large, hollow rock poked out of the crashing waves and glistened with water. The Tigertail floated in through the opening and chose the tallest center rock as a perch. Her figure became bathed in the silver moonlight. The young merlins, their ages ranging from five to twelve, whose tails had been painted for the ceremony entered the Cave after her. The adult merlins outside moved in, encircling the sea cave. _

_The moon aligned itself perfectly with the cut fissure in the roof of the cave. Rather than continuing along the horizon, it seemed to hang there for several minutes. The Tigertail looked up at the bright, full sphere. Her eyes fogged with its presence. She parted her lips, and a beautiful, distinct, liquid song poured from her mouth. The song rang off of the enclosed cave walls, cuing the young merlins to join in. The cave echoed with their voices. Upon hearing the melody ringing from within, the adults outside began chanting, "Bring her, bring her!"_

_A small wooden rowboat was towed out of a storage crevice in the face of a rocky cliff. Inside the boat lay a young girl, probably nearing the age of eighteen with long, glossy light brown hair and pale skin. Her wrists had been bound with strong, golden seaweed and her hair had been decorated with assorted ocean plants. She was asleep in the boat, unaware of what was going on around her. _

_The merlins pushed the boat as far as the Cave's entrance, where it floated in. The closest of the singing merlins helped it along, only briefly taking their eyes off of the Tigertail. When the boat bumped into the rock where the Tigertail was perched, a few faint gasps sounded from the audience. The cave went quiet when the Tigertail stopped singing. She lowered her eyes from the moon slowly. Her gaze now rested upon the young woman in the boat. Her head cocked in thought. Her audience only looked on, wide eyed, unsure of what was to come. _

_The woman's eyes flew open, causing the Tigertail to jump. The entire audience quaked as well._

"_Wh- where am I?" the woman demanded hesitantly, struggling to sit up and see past the walls of the small boat. The Tigertail regained her posture and sat up straighter than ever. _

"_I sing to Luna,_

_I sing to Gitu,_

_I sing to Dray,_

_I sing to Take, _

_And I sing to Orm._

_Revive her, revive her!_

_Make her as we."_

_The water bubbled around the rock she perched on, and two of the eldest male merlins came forward to force the human out of the boat. She screamed and kicked in protest, though her efforts were futile. The woman was forced into the water, and another merlin female caught the boat as it drifted away. The Tigertail began repeating the verse over and over, her voice becoming more fluid and liquid each time it was repeated. _

_The ring of bubbles soon spread throughout the cave and engulfed the entire interior. The Tigertail's cries grew louder, and soon the merlins' young joined in the chant. The human clung helplessly to the rock upon which the Tigertail sat, crying and praying for deliverance. The water began to glow throughout the cavern, and the human was yanked back into the salty ocean with rough hands. She let out a screech of pain as the moon's intensity focused harshly on her. Bright light flashed and the human vanished. _

_A bright wave of aftershock rippled through the cave, passing through each young merlin in turn but never touching the Tigertail. The merlins each seemed to age about ten years before the Tigertail's misty eyes, and she in turn felt herself growing younger. She turned to the water where the human had floated moments before. The water still glowed. She judged the water safe, and slid off of her tall rock beneath the water. She resurfaced with a baby merlin cradled in her arms, wailing with its first breaths of air. She cooed rhythmically to the baby, stroking the glossy hair that drooped limply from its head, weighed with the water._

"_Let her name be known as Safrana, and may her life as one of us be spent well," the Tigertail proclaimed. The now adult merlins sang the name over, wishing the baby well._

_The baby, Safrana, was passed onto the promised parents, and the Tigertail returned to her perch though the others all left. She sang stories for the baby Safrana as the moon vanished from view. _

_Whoa_, I thought. _This is getting intense_! Someone might have thought I was reading the story rather than writing it had I spoken this out loud. I wasn't really sure where I was going with the story; I usually let them take on a life of their own. I wasn't so sure if that was a good idea in this instance, though, seeing where it was taking itself after the first few pages.

"Carry, get down here and help me set the table! It's time for dinner," Mom called. I had to grin. I saved my file as 'the tigertail' and hurried downstairs for dinner.

There wasn't much to set. Janette was coming over, and she brought lasagna with her. I ate quickly, hoping to get to Mako before any of the girls had the same idea. They still didn't know about my wings.

I shot like a bullet through the water towards the lone island. When I came up for a fresh breath of air, I noticed a small silver object flying above the top of Mako's volcano. The Moonpool lay in its belly. I guessed that it was Sylvie, though I thought it odd that she would be flying above Mako rather than swimming in the waters. I shrugged it off and completed the journey to Mako completely underwater, using my gills.

When I surfaced in the pool, I noticed someone investigating the cave walls. By her figure and hair color, I guessed it was Cleo, though her hair looked a little too light. I figured it was just the way the light was hitting her.

"Hey, Cleo," I began. I cut myself short when I realized this was not Cleo. The unknown girl whirled around with a squeal of surprise at my voice. I reacted faster, though, and painted myself to match the water. I even repainted myself every few minutes to make it appear as though the painted water on me was rippling. The girl looked around uncertainly.

"Hello?" she whispered, hoping no one would answer. She stood like that for several minutes, giving me time to work out who she was. I think her name was Chloe Hart, the new girl at school. She had only come a week ago, and I hadn't thought much of her.

Her hair was light brown and hung to her mid back. Her eyes were a bit too far apart, I thought, and her skin was a nice tan. Her face looked a bit too smooth and perfect to me with the artist's eye, but she had a slightly turned up nose. She was really pretty, though. She had a slim figure, was about my height, maybe taller, and had light blue eyes.

Finally scolding herself for being paranoid, she turned back around, groping along the wall for something. I slowly hoisted myself out of the water, trying not to make too much noise.

Sylvie dove down to join me, and for a moment, it seemed like Chloe had seen her. She turned in her direction, a bit distracted. Luckily, I was too far behind her to attract her attention, and she didn't notice me.

I dried myself off. She finally turned when she heard me change into water, but missed the whole transformation.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, jumping up. She almost screamed.

"Where did you come from? And I can ask you the same question," she retorted smartly. I was taken aback. I didn't expect to be challenged on _my_ turf.

"I asked you first," I returned for lack of a better comeback.

"What are you, four?" I took a step back and raised my eyebrows. How DARE she?

"You had better give me an explanation," I threatened.

"Or what? You'll drag me down into the big blue?"

"Maybe I will." I didn't like the sound of that. Mermaids had a reputation for drowning people. She was coming awfully close to home.

She took on a threatening warning stance, and I took a step forward to hold my ground.

"This spot has been called for. I'd like you to leave, please," I stated flatly. She didn't make a move. She narrowed her eyes, and her gaze flickered between me and the water in the pool. I took a nervous gulp. "Now."

Chloe sidestepped me and stood beside the pool. I backed away. Did she know something? With one last glance between me and the water, she jumped forward and grabbed my wrist. I shrieked in surprise as she took me off guard and yanked me into the water. I managed to snag her wrist and drag her down with me, though.

She gasped in surprise as she found herself tumbling down as well, and flailed around in an attempt to find something to grab onto. All her fingers closed around was air.

I closed my eyes and held my breath as the water erupted in a loud splash beneath my weight. I felt my tail starting to form. I had to get out NOW! I tried to paddle towards the surface, but Chloe was pushing me back down in her own desperate attempt to get away. I grabbed hold of her and pulled her back in fury before she could get very far, though.

We both finally managed to pull ourselves up, clinging to the edge of the Moonpool, gasping for breath. When we had both recovered, I turned to my tail, and my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets. Not only was my tail floating out behind me, but Chloe too had grown a tail, even longer than mine. When she noticed that I had a tail as well, she looked back up. We met each others' gaze, and held eye contact for several minutes, trying to accept another mermaid.


	12. Chapter 13: Leopardtail

**Chapter 13**

**Leopardtail**

"Can we start over," I managed to say, my expression still blank from shock. Chloe nodded, her face blank as well.

I couldn't believe it! Another mermaid and this one was like me! Well, almost like me. She had similar gills, but her tail wasn't tiger striped like mine, or orange like the girls'. Rather, hers was hot pink, though it faded near the belly like mine. It was thickly dappled with black leopard spots. _Interesting. Both of our tails are covered in large cat prints_…

"What's your name?" she gasped out hoarsely.

"Call me Silver. Silver Price. You're Chloe Hart, right?" She nodded weakly. We both took another glance at each others' tails. When our eyes met again, we both grinned and failed to refrain from laughing. We were soon hanging onto each other for support as we gasped for air through our hysterics.

We had finally calmed down; we sat in companionable silence, trying to figure out what to say next. Finally, Chloe flicked her wrist as if to shoo away a bug.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a bug," she stammered hesitantly. I could tell she was lying, and gave her a look. My gaze flicked between her and her tail which now had a lizard something like mine, or a sea wyrm, perched on it. She glanced down at her leopard spotted tail to see what I was looking at and let out a groan.

"Leema!" She flipped her tail in an attempt to chase the sea wyrm off. The lizard did with a squeal of protest. But something wasn't right.

"People can only see Leema when you're touching her, right?" I clarified.

"How'd you know?" I summoned Sylvie down with a quick hand gesture, my eyes never leaving Leema's hovering form. She perched on my shoulder. Chloe squealed. "You have one too?"

"Same thing happens. I touch her, people can see her. She's on her own, she invisible. Something's not right, though."

"What?"

"I can still see Leema." Chloe's face paled and she looked up at her flying sea wyrm. Leema had much bigger frills, which undoubtedly made her a better flier.

Leema was bright, shiny pink, a shade lighter than Chloe's own tail. Like Sylvie, though, her scales looked metallic. Her fins were a cheery dark people. She had three white, stubby horns on the back of her head. The webbing between her toes was thin and barely tinted pink. Looking to Chloe's fingers, I noticed that her hands were connected with similar webbing. I compared Sylvie's webbed toes to my webbing, and noticed that they were similar as well. Was that mere coincidence?

"How long have you been a mermaid?"

"Since I was eleven, so that's four years. What about you?"

"Four years?" I was astonished. "I've only had a tail for two months!"

"Is this where you changed?"

"Yes. There are three others, too. Cleo, Rikki and Emma have tails too. Theirs are all golden-orange, though, not with a print."

"Before I moved here, there were two other mermaids that lived next door! Their names were Elizabeth and Hope. Theirs looked just like that!"

"There was another Moonpool there?"

"I guess so, if this is what you're calling a Moonpool." I waved it off.

"The girls are rubbing off on me, but yes."

"That's something to think about…"

"What happens during the full moon?" She looked startled that I had asked such a question.

"I- I sing," she stammered.

"Me too!"

"It's always just fragments, though. It's like I'm singing every other word in a song. Sometimes, not even that."

"Did you write down all of the syllables you sing?" She snorted.

"I memorized them."

"What are they?" In reply, Chloe began to hum the syllables of one.

"The moo… ther… the stars… our guy's… the oash… is home… ben… th… its wat's… we glide… the… wyrms… our… dren… st take them… with two oths… we wi… make the jou-r-ney… when the time… has come." She slit the two syllable word 'journey' into three clear notes.

"Do it again," I said, narrowing my eyes in thought. She sighed, slightly aggravated, but she started again. However, when she started, I sang along, singing the syllables I had sung the first night. Together, we recreated the full song.

"The Moon is our mother,

The stars are our guides,

The Ocean is home,

Beneath its waters we will glide.

The sea wyrms- our children!

We must take them home.

With two others

We will make the journey

When the time has come." We stared at each other with knowing. We had both been singing fragments of the same song from opposite sides of the world.

"Well, now maybe we can decipher it," I tried to laugh.

"I've been singing other songs," Chloe said seriously. "Have you?"

"I've only been a mermaid for two full moons. I sang that song the first full moon, but then I sang a full song on my own last night."

"How did it go?"

"I sing to Luna,

I sing to Gitu,

I sing to Dray,

I sing to Take,

And I sing to Orm.

Send me the others

So that we may journey

And return to our origins,

And restore balance." She flipped onto her belly in thought.

"I haven't sung that one before."

"I think we're going to be spending a lot of time together," I commented lightheartedly. She just nodded lightly.

We pulled ourselves out of the water onto the sand.

"Do you have… powers?" She asked.

"Do you?" I returned.

"Five," she answered with a nod.

"Five? I only have four," I said with a slightly disappointed huff. Chloe grinned in sympathy. She created a water sphere, froze it, melted it, and then used a new hand motion. She twirled her hand in a downwards funnel motion, and the orb turned a foggy color. After a few moments, it changed back. She let the orb plop back into the water.

"What was that?"

"Gel."

"Gel?"

"I can turn water into jelly."

"That's kind of weird."

"Not really. It can be kind of useful, and I can harden it so that it won't ever turn back to water again."

"You could make figurines like that," I commented, my artist's side kicking in.

"I have, a whole lot of them," she grinned.

"You said you had five powers. That was only four." She responded by tapping a rhythm on the sand with her fingers. Small dimples showed on the water, and a soft chiming noise sounded with each tap.

"I've always loved music. That power is kind of fitting," she remarked.

"That's kind of weird," I muttered. I guessed it was time to share my powers. However, I wanted to try that gel thing first.

I made a water orb, and I imitated Chloe's motion. It worked. I laughed in triumph.

"I take it back. I have five powers, too!"

"What's the fifth?" I answered by painting the orb red.

"It's weird. Just like you love music, I love art."

"That can't be coincidence."

"Yeah, that's just a bit too freaky," I agreed.

"What about your girls? Do they have powers?"

"Rikki can heat things, Emma can freeze things, and Cleo can move and create water."

"Elizabeth could freeze it, and Hope could move it," Chloe commented. "I wonder if there was ever a third that we just never found."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"So when do I get to meet your Emma, Rikki and Cleo?" Chloe asked, stroking Sylvie who had just transferred onto her lap. We had dried ourselves, and we were now leaning against the back of the cave.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I replied uneasily.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it, but I have a really bad feeling." Chloe begged me and pestered me, but finally, she shrugged in defeat.

"Eventually," I promised, "but I don't think its s good idea to meet them just yet."

"Whatever you say," she huffed.

Sylvie sniffed Leema, and swiped a paw out at her experimentally. Leema squealed with delight and leapt into the air. Sylvie jumped up after her, her smaller wings working hard to stay up in the air. They did a few flips in the air, chasing each other around. I smiled and let the incoming draft cradle my face.

"Do you ever wonder what it's like up there?" I asked.

"Why wonder when you can go?" I looked at Chloe. Was she hinting on my wings? In answer, she took off her shirt to reveal a tank top underneath with two long slits through the back. She closed her eyes and concentrated. I heard that disgusting grinding noise, and two wings sprouted from her back. I was struck dumb in surprise. I guess I really shouldn't have been, since I could do that as well, but to see another person do it was kind of weird.

"Want a ride?" Her wings were much larger than mine. I wondered if there was a connection there, between her form and Leema's, and mine and Sylvie's. I jumped up in indignation. I could fly perfectly well on my own, thank you very much!

I had no tank underneath, so I had to improvise. I pulled my top up far enough to give my wings plenty of room to grow, and I concentrated. It took a lot more effort while I was dry, but they grew. Chloe took a few slow steps back, not surprised in the least.

My wings were small but thickly built, and very strong. They were silvery, but the scales that covered these were hard, tough scales like a lizard, not the slimy, soft ones of a fish that covered my forearms and the sections on my back where wings grew. They were a lot like Sylvie's. Likewise, the scales covering Chloe's wings were hard and metallic, but her wings were more of a red-bronze color, more like brass. Her wings were a little thinner than mine, which probably cupped the air better.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" With that, Chloe crouched, bunched the muscles in her thighs, and jumped up to an impossible height before taking off. Each stroke of her wings took her higher and higher.

I took one glance at Sylvie, who looked unsure as well. I had never really flown before, and especially not with legs. I had only hovered above the water with a long, thick tail weighing me down.

However, I was not about to let a complete stranger beat me out. I bunched my muscles in a similar manner and took off. My wings caught me off balance and I struggled to regain my posture. My legs were much lighter without my tail. I had expected the tremendous weight of my tail, so when the weight didn't balance me, I was almost thrown backwards.

Sylvie nudged me forward, and I found my balance. I couldn't believe how light I felt. It was an amazing sensation. I had always loved heights, and now I could go as high as I pleased! With a laugh, I flapped upward, twirling as I caught a thermal that would take me higher.

I burst out of the volcano top and into the blinding sunlight. I hovered there for a moment, trying to spot Chloe. It was strange. I had only just met her, yet it felt like I had known her for years. I somehow trusted this girl, and not just because she was a mermaid and a lot like me.

Chloe's bronze wings glinted as she swooped down just inches from me.

"This is your first time flying, isn't it?" She called as she began to look back around.

"Yeah," I called loudly back. Chloe dropped about ten feet, scaring me, before she caught the wind again and flipped back around.

"Not bad for a beginner," she commented, examining my stance. I watched her fly. If she had been a mermaid for four years, she must have gotten in a lot of practice. She used her arms to steer her, and her legs for balance. Her wings flapped smoothly in unison when she hovered or flew, but they went back out of sink when she wanted to turn.

I took up a stance much like hers, trying to copy her but listening to Sylvie's coaching chirps as well. I made the mistake of looking down. The sight of hovering in thin air a hundred feet off the ground made my stomach do flips.

Chloe eased my mind when I looked over to see her and Leema doing astonishing acrobatics a ways away. I grinned. I couldn't resist the urge to join them. I found that most of the techniques came naturally and with practice.

We spun, flipped, did loop the loops, crazy eights, and eventually, I summed up the guts to free fall. I loved the sensation. It was crazy, insane and wonderful at the same time. Better yet, Chloe didn't make a single remark about my scars, though she couldn't have missed them. I was glad to have finally found a friend who accepted me as I was; someone who could past the scars.

We exchanged phone numbers and addresses that night. I had to get home, and so did Chloe, before our parents started freaking out. I lay smiling in bed that night, thinking of how great this had just become. I dreamt of mermaids that night, and flying. For the moment, I couldn't have been happier.


	13. Chapter 14: Retrieval

**Chapter 14**

**Retrieval**

I was convinced that I had thrown my back out from so much flying. Mom was a bit miffed, but believed me. It was painful to stand, let alone walk, so I stayed in bed as much as I could. That gave me a chance to work on the story.

I began to focus more on the Tigertail. I decided that transforming a human was the only way the merlin young would be able to reproduce: the bright flash of aftershock reversed their sterile state. The merlin young would have to have this ceremony preformed before they turned thirteen, or it would have no effect.

The Tigertail herself was transformed once, but the ceremony did not affect her. She would always be sterile. She was ancient, too. Every time she preformed the ceremony, she grew younger, to always look about fourteen years old.

She had begun to remember her human past. I decided that her human name would be Miranda, since that was what Dad wanted to call me when I was born and this character was based off of me. My goal was to make her as much like me as possible to try to trick Zane into helping me find some answers.

I stayed in bed for about a week, trying to get my back to heal. Chloe had begun to visit me. She brought my schoolwork to me so that I didn't fall behind. She explained that what I was going through was probably perfectly normal, since I had used my wings so much for the first time. It took a lot of effort for our wings to keep us in the air, after all.

She made a real impact on Mom. Mom liked her, and later questioned me on why she didn't come more often. I tried to explain that we had just become friends, but Mom was doubtful. We acted as if we had known each other since we were two.

I had a lot of explaining to do to the girls when we finally met up again. I found them at the marine park. I told them Mom had assigned me gardening duties and I threw my back out from too much digging. On the bright side, I had already completed seven chapters of this book.

When they were finally satisfied, they got me up to date on Zane's monster hunt. He was getting pretty close without the book, and thought that I had set him up when I never arrived to take a look at what he had to show me Saturday. I got his number from Emma, who had just about everyone's number, and texted and apology for missing our appointment as well as a rescheduled date and time.

Out of the blue, Mrs. Chatham appeared behind us.

"Girls, I'm so glad I bumped into you," she began, letting a hand rest on Cleo's shoulder. She didn't protest.

"Mrs. Chatham!"

"Hi," Cleo smiled timidly.

"How are you, Mrs. Chatham?"

"In all honesty, Emma, I'm very concerned." I stood up to offer the older woman a seat. She took it gratefully. "I just wanted to tell you all that you must stick together." I suddenly felt guilty. Was she hinting about Chloe? "No matter what," she continued. "You must be there for one another. Promise me."

"I swear by the siren's song," I burst. I had no idea where it came from, and the girls all shot me strange looks.

"What?" I shrugged sheepishly, and Mrs. Chatham smiled.

"Mrs. Chatham, I don't know what you're worried about, but as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing I wouldn't do for Cleo and Rikki." The others nodded their agreement.

"Absolutely. The three- I mean four- of us are like, best friends," Cleo agreed, correcting herself. This didn't faze me. I hadn't really been here to truly bond with the trio. I couldn't blame them for leaving me out.

"No secrets." I felt even guiltier. "Right?" I felt a tight knot form in my stomach when I nodded. I hated lying.

"Right," the other girls echoed.

"I'm glad," Mrs. Chatham said unbelieving, casting a long glance at Rikki, and then letting her gaze hang briefly over me. I shrank back behind Emma.

Before the old woman excused herself, she handed me a small envelope.

"This is for your eyes only," she said, sliding it across the table. "For you and those like you." With that, she bid us goodbye. I knew what she meant by that last statement, but the others didn't. They waved politely to her, but instantly turned back to me.

"What was that all about?"

"And what's in that envelope?"

"Mrs. Chatham said that it was only for Silver."

"Yes, and others like her," Rikki reasoned. "We're all mermaids here. We're like her."

"With two others," I whispered to myself, remembering the song Chloe and I had pieced together.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, realizing that they had heard me.

"What others?"

"Look, I think I know what she means, and I'm sorry, but that doesn't include you three."

"Then who does it?"

"I don't know yet."

"How can you not know? No secrets, remember?"

"Please don't get upset with me," I squeaked out, trying not to cry in guilt. "I can't explain it."

"Of course you can! We're you're friends," Cleo assured.

"But you're not like me." I got up and left then. I wanted to get away from them. A part of me urged to go to Mako, and another part cried for the open sky. All I knew was that I didn't want to be around anyone else. I finally ended up soaring through the clouds for an hour before I resigned to go write chapter eight of my tigertail novel.

The next morning, I got a reply from Zane. He was going to give me another chance and had accepted my rescheduling offer. I met him at the docks as soon as I got up.

"I really didn't mean to miss Saturday," I began, coming up with my hair covering the left side of my scarred face.

"Sure," he said unbelieving. I knew the only reason he was tolerating me was because I had information he wanted. I crouched beside his boat at the bashed in door.

"Only a tigertail mermaid could have the strength to do something like that," I nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"According to my sources, tigertails are elusive, rare and kind creatures except on the night of a full moon. Then they're put under some sort of hypnotic spell and will rip your eyes out if you interfere with their singing."

"Nice," he commented. I waved it off.

"No other mermaid would have the power in their tail for something like that," I went on. "A tigertail's tail is built for speed, meaning that they have incredible muscle and power. Most other mermaids have long, wiry tails made for agility. Tigertails don't bend that like; there's too much muscle. I don't doubt that one of them saved you."

"You said that they're very rare and elusive. Why would one save a human like me, then?"

"A tigertail sees past the exterior. They know who you really are inside. Maybe she liked what she saw." That gave something for Zane to chew on while I answered my phone. Emma had decided to die her hair and she wanted us all to be there.

I started to leave, but turned back.

"I should have that book for you soon. I've gotten through half of Mom's attic already. It must be near the back." He nodded and waved me off before turning back to the salvaged door. I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind.

I arrived late, but before Rikki, who seemed to be taking her own sweet time.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Emma asked for the tenth time since I got there. Cleo had begun to set up. A bottle of hair dye was in her hand.

"It's easy," she assured. "I've done this a thousand times."

"Really?"

"No, but I've seen it being done before."

"There's a big difference, Cleo."

"It'll be fine."

"Let me see that box," I beckoned. Cleo tossed it to me. "This looks awfully red."

"It's a shade of auburn."

"Colors don't always turn out right," I warned. "I know."

"Let's go," Cleo gesture for Emma to get into the prepared chair before I could scare her out of it.

"Let's wait for Rikki," Emma stalled. "You know how she always feels like the odd one out."

"You're backing out, aren't you? Because it sounds like you're wavering here."

"I'm not backing out. Let's do this." Emma seemed to be reassuring herself. Cleo got to work.

About twenty minutes later, far into the process, Rikki entered.

"If you're going to bother to ask, you should probably lock the door," she commented, gesturing to Emma's tail. "Especially looking like that."

"Sorry about the tail. I forgot water was involved. Want to keep going?"

"Of course! I'm not stopping now."

"Whoa!" Rikki's eyes popped. "Are you really going this red?"

"Scarlet fever?"

"What? I thought you said it's Indian Sunrise." I hadn't seen the color name.

"Don't worry. It'll look great," Cleo assured, realizing her mistake. Emma didn't look so sure, and Rikki shook her head in amusement.

When Cleo took her hair down after twenty minutes from drying inside of the towel, we all had to refrain from smiling. That was not any known shade of auburn, nor was it 'Indian sunrise.'

"Well?" she asked expectantly.

"Well, you're a red clown nose away from selling burgers." Emma made a wild grab for the mirror and almost screamed at what she saw.

"I look awful! What have you done to me?"

"Look, we have to dry you off and get you back to normal as soon as possible."

"It's supposed to dry lighter," she offered helpfully.

"It had better! I wanted to change, but this looks awful!"

"You should think about that the next time," Rikki commented, taking the mirror.

"Is there anything you can do with your color power?" she asked desperately. I shrugged.

"Maybe, if you want me to try. I'm not sure what I can do to tone down the red. Even it out with some green and brown, maybe." It was _bright._

"Green?"

"They're complimentary colors. They even each other out. It'll make it dull enough for me to cover up."

"Do something!" I complied. I took a small amount of water from the sink and bathed her cherry red hair in it. Next, I tinted it slightly green. I concentrated the color among the strands of her hair, and dried it, staining her hair. It currently looked like an ugly mix of colors that should never have been mixed.

"It looks worse, now," Rikki added helpfully. I cast her a dark look.

"It's not done yet." I then repeated the procedure, but this time I painted it thickly white, so it looked like a light brown-gray mess. "What color were you trying to get it? A red brown auburn?"

"Yes, but I'd settle for blonde again." With a priming coat down, I repeated the procedure again, but painting it the proper color.

"Much better." Emma grabbed the mirror back, and sighed with relief.

"You're a life saver." I grinned.

"I know." An alarm buzzed in the other room.

"I'm running late for work. Here," Cleo handed Rikki the hair drier.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She handed it and the mirror back to Emma and chased after Cleo.

"Hey!" Emma screamed after them. I rolled my eyes and clenched my fist, slowly drying her so as to not burn her. I only raised it a few degrees every minute. I was afraid I'd hurt her.

"Thanks, Silver," she sighed, taking another glance at her new hair color in the mirror. I shrugged. It was the least I could do.

"Emma," a voice called. My blood turned cold. That was Zane's voice.

"Hurry up," Emma hissed.

"I'm afraid I'll burn you," I protested.

"Just do it!" I groaned with another eye roll and turned up the heat. "Ow!" she squealed. I winced, regretting it. Finally, she turned to water and her legs were returned. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Her hair color had changed back to blonde anyway.

"Emma, come out! I need to talk to you for two seconds," Zane persisted. Emma jumped up and opened the door a crack. "There you are," he finally sighed. Rikki's eyes bulged again at the sight of her. I pushed my way out and leaned against the wall to listen in, arranging my hair to act as a curtain.

Emma headed downstairs, trying to ignore Zane. He wouldn't give up so easily, though. He tagged along.

"Emma, I need to talk to you about something really important.

"What do you want, Zane?" she finally asked irritably.

"Where did Rikki go?"

"Does it matter?"

"Look, the thing is, I know you're not going to approve of this, and I don't want to compromise your feelings for her in any way." I glanced back to see Rikki listening in from the steps. Emma gave Zane a weird look. "Okay," he began. "That old woman, Mrs. Chatham? I need to talk to her, but I don't know where she is."

"Mrs. Chatham? You might want to talk to her, Zane, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to talk to you."

"We've had our differences, sure," he agreed, "but I think she knows more about that sea creature thing than she's letting on."

"Why do you think that?"

"I remember I was on her boat and there was all this really, really weird stuff that she'd collected from all over the place."

"Ha! You should see my room," I commented from behind them, hoping to distract him from the subject.

"Before I could get a proper look at it, the old rust bucket started sinking and I panicked. I- I was trapped. I was going down really fast; I had no chance of escape. I started to black out, and that's when I saw what I saw." He shook his head, remembering the fear he'd felt. I shivered, reliving the event myself. "Emma, I need answers. This is all I can think about. She knows something about the sea creature."

"Look, Zane, I don't know what happened to you, but Mrs. Chatham's my friend and it's your fault her boat sank."

"You're not going to help me, are you?" He looked around with disappointment. "Alright, it's always a pleasure. I'll find her myself."

"Things have got to get better when I find that book for you," I called.

"Then find it," he snapped. I did a little head toss and followed him out.

"Fine, I'll go look now." I slid past him and headed down the street towards my house to finish another chapter. I was almost through. The Tigertail was hot on the trail to getting her legs back and finding her birth parents.

I had only three chapters to go or two if I combined this short one with the next when Cleo interrupted me. She called to get me over to her house. Zane had finally met up with Mrs. Chatham at the marine park. He was going to her shipwreck.

Apparently, there was a photo of Mrs. Chatham and her friends as mermaids in a small wooden chest. The issue was hotly debated until Rikki excused herself without a real reason.

"Look, I don't really know what there is to argue about," I said. "We have to get the photo, so I'll go down and find it."

"No, I'll get it," Emma offered.

"No way. Right now, Zane only knows that there's a tigertail mermaid, thanks to my false trail. If he sees you, that will ruin everything. If he sees me, he'll only have confirmed that the 'rare and elusive tigertail mermaid' saved him."

"Cleo needs to get back to work, and we have to find Zane," Emma said. "Silver, you come with us just until we know Zane hasn't left yet. If he sees your face and your… you know… it's no question of who the mermaid he saw was." My face turned red under the curtain in fury. None of them had ever referred to my scars like that before. I huffed and left the room with Emma and Lewis hot on my heels.

Zane's boat was still there, so Emma was posted as a guard while Lewis got to work on sabotaging it. Meanwhile, I dove into the water to head for the site of the wreck. I zoomed through the water, trying to keep low and nowhere near the surface where anyone could see me.

The wreck was dark, so I used my water ability to my advantage. I was able to bend the water so that the light was angled the right way. I searched through her items in the cramped space. With a tail as large as mine, that was no easy task.

I rummaged through the knick knacks until I found the chest. It wasn't wood; it was metal. I opened it anyway, and found the pictures. I took the ones of her and her friends with tails and whirled around. I thought I'd heard a motor above.

I shimmied my way around and left. I glanced up and saw two divers; one was looking up at his retreating friend. That must have been Zane. I decided to play it cool and not let on that I knew they were there. I swam away with the pictures, taking care not to let them see anything but my hair. I felt a pair of eyes boring into me, but I forced myself not to turn around. I just focused on swimming.

I heard a noise that sounded like he might be trying to follow me, and couldn't take it anymore. I just barely looked back through my red tinted curtain of hair, and upon seeing him, shot off like a bullet. Not that it did any good. He had already seen me.

The next day, we met up at the JuiceNet. Zane was telling stories about the mermaid he'd seen.

"I'm telling you, I saw her clear as day. I saw a mermaid." The customers erupted with light laughter. "This mass of red-brown hair followed by a long tail, Nate," he nudged his friend to back him up.

"What, you're asking me?"

"Look, I'm going back out there. This is real. There is a mermaid out there, and I'm going to prove it. Who's coming with me?" He looked for a show of hands. I finally shrugged and held my hand up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Cleo hissed before Zane caught sight of my arm.

"Keep your enemies close," I whispered back.

"Really?" I shrugged.

"Mermaids are awesome. I'm not big on the water, though, so I'm not diving, but I'll help on land," I offered.

"You're both fruitcakes," someone called.

"HEY!" I screeched, tossing aside my hair. My scars often had an effect on people, and the guy shut up right away. "Mermaids are awesome," I continued a bit quieter. "You got a problem with that?" He shook his head. "Good." I leaned against the wall, and rearranged my hair. Zane's friend Nate cast him a pathetic look, as if he didn't quite believe that Zane would really team up with a little girl. I snorted indignantly.

"A mermaid? Have you gone completely insane?" Emma asked, trying to keep him off of her tail. I couldn't blame her, but I had to seem as though I had chosen sides.

"Well he must have seen something out there because when he came out of the water he looked like a scared little boy," Nate laughed. The crowd laughed with him.

"Says the dude who ran from a shark," I sneered.

"How'd you know about that?"

"You're allergic, you run," I answered evenly.

"Nate, do me a favor and don't help."

"So what exactly did this mermaid look like?" Emma questioned. Zane summoned me.

"Do you have that picture?"

"Always," I answered, taking out the Lorelei picture. He held it up.

"It looked like that, stripe for stripe," he replied. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that you knew her yourself."

"But then I probably wouldn't be helping you," I pointed out.

"Was she cute?" Zane's girlfriend, Miriam, asked.

"I didn't see her face, but I think she saw me."

"What gives you that idea?"

"When she saw, she swam off."

"Your ugly mug must have scared her off," someone joked. Even I had to chuckle at that one.

"Zane, I think the oxygen got cut off to your brain," Emma pointed out, turning to choose a seat. I sighed and slid into the booth beside Cleo. Lewis sat beside Emma.

"Look Babe, maybe you need to chill for a while," Miriam tried. Zane would not be comforted.

"You let him see you?"

"I can't move around as well as you all in that boat. It took me a while to find the pictures. My tail is way too long. Longer than yours, I know."

"I guess it's a good idea we sent you, then."

"Yes, otherwise he would be convinced there were two mermaids out there."

"Told you so."

"Wait, where's Rikki?" I looked around. The blonde, hot tempered teen wasn't here.

"What's up with her lately?" I shrugged. I got a text from Chloe then, saying that she wanted to meet me at Mako. I excused myself and headed off. For the rest of the week, I would dedicate myself to finishing the book. For the rest of the month, I would focus on Chloe and my mermaid dilemma.

Before I set out for Mako, though, I stopped by the house and took Mrs. Chatham's envelope with me. Chloe was included in the 'others like me,' and I believed that she needed to see that too. I think I was a step closer to figuring us out.


	14. Chapter 15: Denman's Return

**Chapter 15**

**Denman's Return**

The full moon was approaching rapidly. In the past week, I had finally finished the book for Zane, and though he thanked me, he called off our mermaid hunt. He said her had made a deal with a friend to leave the mermaids. I was astonished, but didn't argue. I decided to report back to first the girls, then to Chloe.

I sent the girls a text because I wanted to see Chloe as soon as possible. We met at the Moonpool before setting off on a flight.

"Zane suddenly gave up on his mermaid hunt," I finished, ducking to avoid a bird.

"That is weird," Chloe agreed, free falling only long enough to get below me so she could switch to my right side. "That's too bad. You'd finally finished that book for him too." We both laughed a bit at that one. "And then there's that weird scientist in town…"

"What? What scientist?"

"I don't know- just some marine biologist. She's famous, you know."

"Yes, yes, but what's her name?"

"I don't remember."

"Chloe, what's her name?" I was beginning to panic.

"Silver, I really don't remember. I wouldn't lie. I think it started with a D. Does it really matter?"

"Was it Denman?"

"Yes, I think that's right. Is that important?" I almost fainted, and Chloe had to catch me. She eased me back down to the ground, which was no easy task considering the awkward position and the weight my wings added on. "What's this about Dr. Denman? Who is she?" My face was pale.

"She almost found out about us mermaids. She got a hold of a cell sample. She was intrigued by the way it mutated when it touched water. She won't have forgotten it." Chloe didn't look so good either.

"Flying and even swimming might not be a good idea while she's in town." I nodded vigorously. You couldn't get me in the water now for anything.

"I have to warn the girls," I gasped, getting back onto my feet.

"I'm going home. I don't want to attract any attention to Mako." I nodded and took off running. I dove into the water, but soon regretted it. I saw Denman's boat anchored just off of Mako Island's shore. Cleo and Lewis were leaving in his boat. I swam to catch up with them, but was too panicked and disoriented to concentrate on speed. I swam home myself, turning back around every two minutes to check for Denman's divers.

I joined the girls at Emma's house. I wasn't the only one with problems. Emma had to refuse a traditional family vacation, Cleo was ranting about Denman's arrival with obvious jealousy in her voice, and Rikki still seemed to be hiding something.

Lewis had been sent out by Cleo to spy and see what the scientist was up to. He reported back half of an hour later. He wanted to meet us at the usual hangout at the JuiceNet café. I brought money for a drink; I needed something to calm my frantic nerves.

"It sounds like a standard environmental survey."

"And what if it isn't?"

"I do NOT want to end up in a display case," I fretted.

"She has no reason to lie and I've seen her charts and it just looks like basic statistics. You guys are safe, I'm sure."

"I'm not."

"Silver, she isn't going to experiment on you, I'm certain," he assured. I gulped as he spoke my fear.

"As sure as you were when she stole our DNA or surer than that?"

"What Cleo's trying to say is that it's not exactly a warm, fuzzy feeling having a marine biologist poking around Mako Island." Zane, who had just logged onto the computer by our table, whirled around. _Oh snazzlefrazz_, I thought. He'd heard.

"What's this about Mako Island?"

"Um, nothing," Lewis improvised.

"I heard you talking about Mako Island," he insisted. "Something about a marine biologist."

"There's just some hot shot marine biologist poking around out there. Nothing special. Hey, that's shirt's nice, is it new? It suits you." Rikki tried to change the subject. I snorted. It was obvious they were still going out.

Zane wasn't going to let it drop.

"Who is it out there?"

"Zane, please stop it," I gasped out. The smoothie hadn't helped. I didn't feel or look well. I was as white as a sheet.

"Are you okay?" I waved it off.

"Fine." I guess he listened because I had been nice enough to offer with the mermaid episode. He dropped it and followed Rikki who had gone off to get a drink.

I went home. No one could soothe my fears. I planned to hole myself up in my room until the scientist had left. I was staying as far away from water as possible until she left. Sylvie would stay out of trouble as well, if I could convince her. She rarely listened to me.

I entertained myself by reading and doodling more pictures of mermaids. I added Chloe to my portfolio as well, her leopard tail and all. Even Leema made the folder. (Sylvie had joined it long ago.)

I spent three days like this until I received word from Cleo. Lewis said that Denman found a cell sample from one of us at the Moonpool. My blood turned cold, and I think my heart stopped. Plus, Rikki reported that Zane was getting awfully close to Denman, bugging her for information on mermaids. I didn't like one bit of it.

Not long after, Zane himself contacted me. He informed me that the mermaid hunt was back on and wondered if I was still in. I hesitated. Yes, keeping your enemies close is nice, but the thought of Denman made me stop in my tracks. I hesitantly answered yes, as to not arouse suspicion at my sudden backing out. He promised to keep me posted, and wanted to go over the book with me. Well, at least that had been put to some good use.

The girls were meeting at Mako around noon to discuss things in private. They called, wondering if I wanted to come. I called them crazy. Denman had been to the Moonpool, so I didn't judge it safe. Rather, I called Chloe to see if I could talk to her and come to her house. It was fine with her, so I went strait away.

I liked Chloe's bedroom. It suited her bubbly, fun personality, but all the time it was sophisticated and sensible. Something about it just suggested the ocean. Maybe it was just the blue coloring of the walls, or maybe the crystal like figurines Chloe had made. She had just added another one. It was of two mermaids sitting side by side. It was labeled, 'Tiger and Leopard' on a store-bought, custom made plaque.

I explained everything I knew about Denman: how she had gotten a cell sample, how she'd found Mako, and how Zane was pestering her. The one thing I didn't have to explain was the way she made my skin crawl. Chloe seemed to already understand that. She was a year older than me, but we felt as close as sisters.

"I'm sure nothing bad will happen," she assured me finally.

"Really?" She knew that if she answered yes, I would trust her and calm down about the whole affair. However, she couldn't lie to me.

"No, I can't," she finally admitted. "So, to make you feel better, let's come up with a backup plan to rescue the girls if anything does happen." I felt relief flow through me like a warm drink on a winter night. Chloe always knew what to do, and always would.

We sorted most of it out on paper, since that was how I thought best. I figured that if Denman planned to strike, it would probably be at the Moonpool. That meant that she would have to lock the girls in. This is where we had the advantage. There may not be escape by water, but perhaps by air.

"There's only one problem," I commented, taking out one of the slips of paper from the envelope Mrs. Chatham gave me. "Zane might be in on it, by Rikki's reports. Mrs. Chatham specifically warned me not to show him my face with my tail."

"Why not?"

"I have no clue."

"When do I get to meet your friends, anyway?"

"Soon," I promised to follow up a dark look.

"Perhaps sooner than later," she muttered. She had a sly look to her face. She had an idea.

"Spit it out," I sighed. Chloe got up and opened a bottle of water on her desk. She then proceeded to remove a sphere from it, and lined it up with my face. I instinctively shied away from it.

"It's okay," she assured. "Brush your hair away. I need to see your whole face." I did without question, though I was curious as to why she was doing this. She examined every aspect of my face, and then shifted the water so that it began to resemble me. I gasped. She soon constructed a replica of me.

"Paint it to look like you," she ordered. I obeyed, beginning to realize what she was up to. I matched the skin tone and the eye color. I even went as far as adding in the freckles and highlighting the scar tissue. Do you think there's anything you can do about the shine?" she asked. I nodded.

"You'll have to harden it first, though." She hardened it into solid jelly and I painted over it again on the outside. Chloe had even added two slits in the sides for a strap. We had a mask that perfectly imitated my face.

"If it comes to it, I can wear this and pass as you. That is, if you temporarily paint my tail and dye my hair."

"Chloe, you're the best friend anyone could have," I grinned. "The most brilliant, too."

"I know," she joked. We both laughed. I was able to go out to meet Zane lighthearted and almost carefree. Zane was about to change that.

"Silver," he called. I found him outside the JuiceNet and jogged over to meet him. He had an enormous smile on his face. "The mermaid," he laughed. "She's real. And she's got friends, too, with orange tails, just like in that book. Two of them, plus the tigertail."

"How do you know?"

"Dr. Denman's underwater camera's caught them. I saw the tigertail myself, and they still don't believe me about her, but there's no denying the others."

"Oh, no," I accidently groaned out loud.

"What's wrong? This is good! Everyone will finally see that we're right!"

"Oh, sorry. It's just… haven't you read that book? The orange tailed merlins were bad news. I can't help but wonder if that book had any real relevance."

"Well, I guess we'll find out." He started to leave. "Oh, but you can't tell anyone. I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I figured that after all you did to stick up for me that you should know." He jogged off in triumph to who knows where. I called up Chloe.

"Chloe, get ready," I said over the phone when she picked up.

"What are you talking about?"

"Word from Zane. Denman caught the others on camera. There'll be trouble, I'm certain."

"Just tell me when," Chloe said confidently. I took comfort in her determined attitude.

"I'll keep you posted," I promised, about to cut off the call.

"Oh, and Silver?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget about the full moon tonight."

"Thanks, Chloe. I didn't forget." I hung up and headed to warn the girls.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find them anywhere, and my phone needed to be recharged. I finally received a phone call from them over Mom's phone.

"Silver, Lewis needs to meet us at Mako. He says it's urgent."

"What about Denman?"

"Forget about Denman! It's Lewis! He wouldn't ask us if it wasn't safe."

"Was it a call or a text?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just answer the question."

"A text. Why?"

"Nothing. Doesn't matter. I'll be there." I phoned Chloe next.

"Chloe, I think the trap's been set."

"Where and when?"

"Mako, NOW."

"I'm on it." She hung up, undoubtedly to get ready. I met her on the shore for the last finishing touches. I stained her tail and her hair until even I thought it was me. "Perfect. I'm going," she stated, pushing off into the water.

"Hurry! They might already be there." She took off at an incredible speed- faster than me. I made sure no one was watching and flew overhead. I had to make sure that they would be alright.

I made it in time to see Chloe following the girls in, passing perfectly as me. They were followed by divers who sealed the exit. I would be there if they needed out. I tried the land entrance, but it was blocked by Denman's goons. Chloe was on her own, now.

My first instinct was to let them out. I dove into the water, making sure the coast was clear. The girls weren't there, but Chloe disguised as me was. _Don't let them see you_, I mouthed. She nodded, understanding what I wanted. I hoped it didn't come to that.

I tried to call Lewis, but he didn't answer. I was beginning to worry about him, too. He always answered me. I decided that my best option was to stay hidden while keeping an eye on the entrance guards. If they left, I'd take the chance to sneak in. I crouched above them, unseen on a rocky ledge. All of my flying had really helped my balance.

I crouched there for fifteen minutes, and my legs began to cramp up. I couldn't stand to sit still. However, I waited there faithfully, dreading what harm might come to the girls if I left. Another ten minutes passed, and the goons below got a call. They left in a rush. This was my chance! I slid down the rock face and peered inside. It seemed safe enough. I slid slowly along the tunnel walls in case anyone saw. I finally decided to make my appearance.

"What are you up to, Denman?" I asked, crossing my arms. So much fear had welled up inside me that I was able to hold it in and play this cool.

"Silver, what are you doing here?" Zane asked. The girls looked horrified. How could I be there in the water and standing on dry land here?

"You must be Zane's partner. I've heard a lot about you," Denman began. I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm willing to make you a deal," I said.

"What can you offer me?"

"If you let the girls go, I'll have the Tigertail meet you here tonight." Denman almost laughed.

"The mermaid you call the 'Tigertail' is right here. She won't show her face or speak a word, but she's down there in the pool. You're asking me to let them go in exchange for something that's already mine."

"Oh, so they're animals that you can own and do what you like with, now, is that it? These girls have families of their own, with their own lives. You can't own them. As for the Tigertail, you don't have her here. She's smarter than that. That's just another friend of mine."

"But how-"

"Waterproof body paint and hair dye. You were right, Zane, I do know the Tigertail. I know where to find her. If you let these girls go, I'll get her to come here tonight at midnight."

"How do you know she'll sacrifice herself for them? And how does that benefit us?"

"She will. I know her well enough. You'll have a mermaid that has all of their properties and more. These girls each have one power. The Tiger tail has all of them, plus two more. Well, actually, I guess you could say she has three more. She won't fight back if I ask her to come. What have you got to loose?"

"Everything! How do we know she'll come? And how do we know that the one in the pool really isn't the Tigertail?" I nodded to Chloe, and she surfaced. She scrubbed her hair so that the red color came out, and then rubbed the paint off of her tail. I recolored it, though, so it looked regular golden orange like the girls' underneath.

"Hello!" She sang cheerily, taking off the mask. The other three were even more appalled. Not only was I in two places at once, but there was a new mermaid here.

"She'll come. Midnight tonight, take it or leave it."

"No."

"Denman, I think we should listen to her." Zane really wanted to meet this Tigertail he had read about, and he probably also wanted to get his girlfriend out of there. Denman looked unsure. She looked to Zane's father, Mr. Bennet, to get his opinion. This was an opportunity for a scientific breakthrough, but she may also loose her other specimens.

"If she doesn't show you can come bug me at my house. Zane knows the address." I turned and left the Moonpool, trying not to cry. I knew Zane would pester her until she agreed if nothing else and I knew what was to come.

I went back to my house and waited on my bed, letting the tears fall. I couldn't see anyone get hurt. I had to do it. I got the call from Zane not long after. Denman had agreed, but she threatened that she had Lewis if I tried anything funny. I didn't care. What would she do to him? He was normal, and had parents of his own that would probably file a lawsuit if they found out she'd kidnapped him. Not that it mattered.

The girls came by my house later that night to wonder if I had lost my mind. Lewis had obviously escaped, because he came too. They demanded what the plan was, and who that other girl was. I didn't even try to answer any of them until they realized I would explain once they shut up.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that while I'm under the moon spell tonight, I'll be untouchable and they'll be wasting their time."

"Who was that other mermaid?"

"Chloe Hart."

"Do you know her?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be able to tell you her name if I didn't."

"How did you find out she was a mermaid?"

"She yanked me into the Moonpool, but I dragged her with me."

"What?"

"Long story."

"You know they'll find out who you are tonight, right?"

"What's the alternative? Zane wants to meet his Tigertail, so he'll meet her."

"Perhaps." Another voice came into play.

"Mrs. Chatham?"

"Hello, girls, Lewis." I nodded in turn.

"What do you mean, perhaps?"

"Tonight is no ordinary full moon."

"It's a lunar eclipse," Lewis realized.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"The full moon is a powerful force. A lunar eclipse is something else. It can take away your powers and your tails."

"No way. We didn't go through everything we have just to throw it all away."

"There has to be another way."

"Yeah. If we can fight, then we should fight."

"Yes, you could do that, but without your powers, you wouldn't be of much use to those people."

"She's right. You don't have a choice."

"They don't want the girls; they want me, the Tigertail."

"That's not going to happen."

"I'm not giving up, either. I'm this way for a reason; I have some purpose! I need to find out what it is, and I can't give it up."

"You couldn't figure it out from a scientist's laboratory, either." I let my head drop. I knew she was right.

"Get your friend, Chloe. Denman knows about her now, too. She has to give it up too."

"She won't be happy about that."

"Get her there. The Tigertail is bringing her friends." I couldn't do anything but bow my head in grief and obey.

That night, all of us met on the shore to head for Mako. Chloe welcomed herself into the group. They couldn't argue with her bubbly attitude. We zoomed towards the island with Chloe in the lead. I was supposed to swim point, but she was too impatient and was faster, so she took the lead.

We had to take the land entrance to avoid any possible underwater traps. I went in first, since they would be expecting me.

"Have you come to return my specimens?" Denman smirked. I glared at her.

"Isn't she coming?" Zane appeared.

"I can't bring her," I stated. Zane's face fell. "She's already here."

"Where?" I only lifted my chin. He realized what I meant."

"You?"

"Yeah."

"You were going to sacrifice yourself for them?"

"Doesn't matter now. We have all of the girls." Goons blocked us in from behind. "Do you really think I would agree to let them go? You only brought me the missing mermaid. I have them all back now."

The full moon began to peek over the volcano ridge above us. I looked up and let it bathe my face while the girls fended off the goons. I felt my eyes fog, but unlike the past few times, I remembered what happened. It was as if I was conscious, but had no control over my body. I stepped into the pool, and when my tail formed, I started to sing.

A buzzing noise behind me signaled that Emma was explaining what we were doing. I vaguely thought it odd that while I was affected by the moon, Chloe wasn't, nor were the girls. The others joined me in the pool when the water started to bubble.

I felt the moon's gentle, tender hold on me. Suddenly, though, the lunar eclipse began, and as the moon began to fade, I felt the hold ripped away from me. I gasped as the connection snapped. I felt strong hands pull me out of the water before everything faded to black.

I woke up in bed the next morning. I had no idea what'd happened. I called up Chloe just as she walked through my door.

"Perfect timing," I noted, hanging up. "I was about to call you." Chloe grinned and plopped on the bed beside me. "So what happened? I went out cold."

"You started singing. No one else did, but you reacted to the moon just before you blacked out. The lunar eclipse knocked you out of it real quick. You were singing parts of a song that I think fit into one of mine, but when I mashed them together, they still didn't completely fit."

"What did it get us?" She handed me a slip of paper. I unfolded it and read what fragments we had.

_We… eed to be… or… se… one more… en… time… avel home… ime… to Gitu, to Dray, to Take, to Orm… wyrms… ill… chime_.

"We need to be four?" I guessed.

"That sounds right… how did you know?"

"When we sang together, we sang 'with two others we will make the journey.' That must mean that two others like us will come. That would make four. Like you said: it just sounds right."

"If that's true, then two more mermaids are coming." I nodded. "When?"

"The full moon seems logical."

"Who are you, Spock?"

"Last night was a full moon." Our faces went blank with worry. What if another mermaid was coming, or had already arrived? We had to find her, quick.

Chloe ran out of the room with me hot on her heels. We headed strait for the Moonpool. Would someone already be there or would we have to find her ourselves? We swam at top speed, but found no one. I was partly relieved, but a part of me was still panicking. She was still out there, I was sure of it.

"Did you feel that?" Chloe asked. I nodded. It was almost like I could sense her. She had arrived on the Gold Coast, of that I was sure. But where, and who was she?


	15. Chapter 16: The 'Sunda' Arrival

**Chapter 16**

**The Sunda Arrival**

**A/N: I know it looks huge, but don't freak out- dialogue takes up most of the space. BTW, we're nearing the end of the story! Hang in there!**

We were soon joined in the Moonpool by the girls. They wanted to be properly introduced to Chloe. She was very friendly about it, and I complied, but I was itching to get out there and find our newest arrival. I slipped away the first chance I got, and headed to the JuiceNet where I could look normal while keeping an eye out for anyone who looked out of place.

This plan backfired, though, when no one showed that fit this description. Wilfred the owner finally came over after two hours to make sure I was okay. I told him I was fine, and was just waiting for someone, which was true enough. He made a smart remark about how he doubted anyone would show after being two hours late. I was beginning to think he was right.

I had finally made up my mind to leave. One of the waitresses had a mini collision with a young girl that looked to be around 11 or 12. She freaked out and made a run for it. I figured it was just because of the laughing audience. _Or because she has a secret to keep_. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I could at least check to see if she was okay.

I bolted after her before I lost her. I heard rustling in the hedges around the back of the JuiceNet and veered that way to investigate. I saw her head through the thick leaves.

"Hey," I called over. She gasped in surprise. "Are you okay? I saw what happened."

"I'm fine, thanks," she said in a hurry.

"Need help?"

"No, I'm fine, really. Please, go. I don't want anyone to see me like this."

"Like a mermaid?" She went dead silent. I pushed through the bushes. I'd found her.

Someone called around back, wondering what us kids were doing, playing around in the hedges. I dried her tail with little protest.

"My friend just lost a few pages from her notebook," I called back, showing a few torn pages from my pocket size sketchpad.

"Stay out of there," came the warning.

"Will do." I pulled the girl away from the area, knowing how to deal with these people.

"You can't tell anyone," she begged.

"Wasn't planning on it. Come on," I tugged her along behind me.

"Who are you? Where are we going?"

"The local Moonpool. I think its best you were acquainted with the rest of us."

"There are more?"

"One more like you and me coming, plus Chloe. Then there are the three locals, but they don't qualify as 'like us.'"

"You're?"

"Keep up." I dragged her to the boat docks, and making sure the coast was clear, I dove in. I heard a splash behind me and knew she had followed. I practically felt her eyes bulging at the sight of my tail. I turned around to summon her to keep up. She obeyed, and I slowly sped up our pace until we were both zooming towards Mako. Chloe was just leaving, but I shoved her back inside.

"Found her," I panted, climbing out onto the sand. Chloe and the new girl stared at each other for a minute, both too stunned to speak. The other girls had already gone. Good, I thought. Otherwise, it would be getting pretty crowded in here. Chloe, Rikki, Emma, Cleo and I barely fit together as it was. Our tails were not meant to save space.

"Who are you?" Chloe burst.

"Savannah Ryans," she said quietly, her face blushing.

"But who are you?"

"Didn't you tell her anything?"

"I was a bit busy," I huffed, drying myself off.

"That's Chloe Hart. You can call me Silver."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"We have a lot to talk about."

"Are you kidnapping me?" I laughed. I couldn't help it.

"There's the exit," I pointed. She looked between it and me. I now towered over them, standing up strait on dry land. I crouched so I didn't look quite so intimidating. Finally, she paddled over to the edge of the pool too.

"I think we can help each other."

"How?"

"We're all alike. You sing during the full moons too, don't you?"

"How did you know?"

"We do too."

"I don't sing whole songs, though. Just fragments."

"Do you know the fragments by heart?"

"No. I only started last night."

"How long have you been a mermaid?"

"Since last night."

"You were turned into a mermaid during the lunar eclipse?" I almost shrieked. Savannah winced as though she had committed a crime. "Sorry," I sighed. "It's just that we temporarily lost our powers last night…"

"And you blacked out when the moon was covered up," Chloe pointed out. Savannah looked horrified.

"We really need those song lyrics," I muttered in frustration.

"I might be able to dream it," she squeaked. We both turned to her. "I've had dreams of singing mermaids the past few months," she explained. "Now that I think about it, I think you two were with me. I know now that I was one of them, but the fourth one is still a blur."

"There, you see? Four mermaids," I exclaimed triumphantly. Savannah looked completely weirded out. I sighed and decided we had better back up and explain everything.

By the end of it, Savannah seemed to grasp what we were up against a little better.

"So you think the song is the answer?"

"That's what I told myself in the video."

"I think I can get them for you. I might be able to dream it back up."

"You do that tonight," I sighed. Savannah's only reply was dragging herself onto the sand. She closed her eyes, and then, her face twisted as if in pain, she fell back.

"Savannah!" I caught her so she didn't bang her head.

"Wake up, mermaid," I breathed. I finally got a good look at the young girl's face. She had strait, light hair that only came to her shoulders. Her fingers were webbed too, but just slightly. Her tail was golden, but not orange gold like the girls'. It was spotted, too. It reminded me of a giraffe print, but it was too different to have been that. She had gills just like us. I wondered if that meant she had a sea wyrm too. Sea wyrms seemed to have something to do with why we were the way we were.

As if on cue, a small golden scaled sea wyrm with majestic, royal blue wings appeared, squeaking in fretfulness. His tail was topped off by a split blue fin. He squeaked and crawled all over her tail in worry. I stroked his neck comfortingly with a finger.

Suddenly, Savannah gasped for air and came back to consciousness.

"What happened?" Chloe asked.

"I can educe sleep on myself," she gasped, breathing heavily.

"You could have just waited until tonight," I huffed.

"But I was right. I got my portion of the song." We pieced it together. This is what we got:

We need to be four,

So send us one more.

When it is time

We will travel home at their prime;

To Gitu,

To Dray,

To Taek,

To Orm.

The sea wyrms will still chime.

I took out the other slips of paper in my pocket that had the lyrics of the other two songs. I wrote the new song down on the back of one of them. I recited each of the previous songs to Savannah so we could get her opinion.

"I sing to Luna,

I sing to Gitu,

I sing to Dray,

I sing to Taek,

And I sing to Orm.

Send me the others

So that we may journey

And return to our origins,

And restore balance." Savannah looked thoughtful. I began the next song.

"The Moon is our mother,

The stars are our guides,

The Ocean is home,

Beneath its waters we will glide.

The sea wyrms- our children!

We must take them home.

With two others

We will make the journey

When the time has come." Savannah cocked her head, absorbing this new information. I didn't need to recite the last song since we'd just gone over it.

"We think that Luna in the first song means the moon, and Gitu, Dray and Orm are other moons or stars. Origins might refer to the United States since we all seem to have moved here from there, but we doubt it. Our sea wyrms have something to do with it, too. They've been referred to in two of the songs, now."

"That line… 'We sing to take.' Take what?"

"We've been wondering the same thing."

"Take the sea wyrms home?" Savannah's lizard snorted in amusement.

"I take that as a no," Chloe chuckled.

"What's his name?"

"George."

"George?"

"It suits him," Savannah defended. I backed off, raising my palms for peace. I called down Sylvie, and Chloe did the same for Leema.

"This is Sylvie, and that's Leema. We all have similar aquatic lizards; that has to mean something."

"I know that term from somewhere- 'wyrm.' It must mean something."

"We'll look it up, Chloe promised.

"It says that we need to be four," Savannah murmured.

"Four mermaids alike," agreed Chloe. "That's how we knew to look for you. We figured that new arrivals would come on a full moon last night."

"That brings us to another question. Where did you become a mermaid? Certainly not here; all of the local mermaids were here last night, and we didn't see you. You said that you've only been a mermaid since the lunar eclipse last night."

"That's right. I was transformed back in Maine, where I used to live. I was so upset about the move that I ran away to my favorite hideout in the middle of the night: a sea cave on the coast. I've never been there at night until yesterday night, so I never realized what it could do until I fell in."

"How long have you known about the cave before you realized it was a Moonpool?" Savannah didn't question my word choice.

"My older sister has been taking me there since I was three years old. She discovered it when she was twelve, when we moved here. I found George there on one of our secret trips. Our parents never knew about that place."

"Did she ever know about it? What it could do, I mean." Savannah looked torn.

"She was a mermaid herself. Her tail was golden-orange, something like mine, but without a pattern. She never told any of us. I found out my mistake."

"She might be our fourth fish!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Where is she now? We need to talk to her." Savannah bowed her head. My eyes widened with shock.

"Oh."

"A car crash," Savannah whispered. "A texting driver took her."

"I'm sorry." Now that she had started, she couldn't seem to stop.

"I was in the car with her when it happened. She was going to college, but had to drop me off at school first. Her coffee spilled on her just before she died. I saw the transformation. She begged me to get her dry. She told me I couldn't tell anyone. I only had enough sense to dry her corpse off before the cops arrived. I told them she wanted her body cremated so that no one would ever discover her secret," Savannah wept. Chloe draped a comforting arm over her shoulders.

_Something was linking us_, I realized. We hadn't known Savannah Ryans for more than half of an hour, yet we already trusted each other. Savannah was pouring out secrets she couldn't even trust her parents with. She hadn't questioned me when I led her here to the Moonpool, either. A natural trust bound us. I wondered if it had anything to do with our tail patterns.

"You say that your sister had a golden orange tail?" Savannah could only manage a nod.

"Then that means she wouldn't have been one of us." I examined Savannah's tail pattern again. "That blows my theory," I muttered. "I thought that since our tails have big cat prints, then the new ones would have cat prints too."

"You might still be right," Savannah sniffed, grateful for the subject change. "We traveled here overnight, so our internet is still down. I was at the JuiceNet to look it up. It matches a sunda snow leopard pattern pretty closely."

"A _sunda_ snow leopard?" She nodded.

"That can't be coincidence, either."

"There are too many similarities," Chloe agreed. "The sea wyrms, the tail patterns, the songs… it's all interconnected somehow."

"I think we'll be a step closer to figuring this out if we look up what a sea wyrm is."

"Let's do it." Chloe pulled herself out of the water and dried off. She kept her waterproofed cell phone in her dry pants pocket at all times. "Drat. I can't get a signal."

"Well, duh. We are under who knows how much rock."

"Hold on." Chloe shed her over shirt and grew wings. Savannah's eyes bulged.

"We both seem to have the strange ability to grow wings," I explained, helping Savannah out of the water without getting wet myself. "It's just another freak of being not human, I guess."

"Be back in a flash," Chloe promised, taking off. She was probably going to fly until she got a signal. Her phone had internet on it.

"Maybe you can grow wings too," I suggested.

"How?"

"Concentrate really hard on growing them," I instructed. Savannah closed her eyes. "Whoa," I halted her. She opened her eyes again, wondering what she could have done wrong so early in the process. "Pull up your shirt first, before you tear holes in it," I grinned. She blushed sheepishly and obeyed. The now familiar crunching noise emanated from her back, and stopped when Savannah's eyes popped. "Don't worry, it's perfectly normal," I assured. She turned her head to see the scale covered, boney extensions producing from her back. I had to calm her down before she completely freaked out on me.

Chloe returned in time to see Savannah's new golden, fully fledged wings. They were something like mine; being so small and stubby, but her wings were a little thinner.

"Nice wings," she commented absentmindedly before getting down to business. "You won't believe what the definition of a wyrm is!"

"Well?" I prompted.

"It's basically a limbless dragon, derived from the word worm!" Instinctively, all of our eyes slowly moved to our lizards that had congregated by the edge of the Moonpool. They looked right back at us, but my ornery Sylvie added in a little grin and an innocent wave of her paw.

"Oh, you're all that, huh?" I snorted, crossing my arms.

"What?" Chloe gave me the weirdest look. I waved it away.

"That's what happens when you get too close to a lizard. You start arguing with each other." Chloe let it drop, but not without one last funny grin.

"They're… dragons?" Savannah was still trying to wrap her head around it.

"Not necessarily. Maybe wyrms were real and formed a place in our history after their story got a little jumbled over the years. After all, our sea wyrms aren't exactly limbless."

"True," Chloe agreed.

"So what does this mean?" George leapt up and climbed along his master's arm until he was perched on her shoulder. She sighed. I did as well. Would we ever figure this out?


	16. Chapter 17: The Last Fish

**A/N: This chapter starts into the beginning of season 2, 'Stormy Weather.' This chapter gets kind of weird (not in a bad way) and jumbled at the end, but don't give up just yet. THERE'S ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER! HANG IN THERE!**

**Chapter 17**

**The Last Fish**

We decided that all we could do was to wait for the next full moon. The girls had a little trouble getting used to yet another mermaid, which threw Savannah off a bit. She was shy to begin with. They didn't need to go around making it worse.

In the meantime, I finally got around to purchasing a tank top of my own and slicing the back out. I took it upon myself to teach Savannah how to fly, since Chloe was a bit too bouncy and impatient for that.

Things slowed down a whole lot when I found Cleo crying at the Moonpool one evening, though. Her parents were getting a divorce. I could only imagine how hard it would be for her.

She had decided to stay here with her father so she could stay near us and the Moonpool. Her mother wasn't too far away, so she could still visit her. I almost felt her pain. It made me angry. How could people get a divorce? Didn't they ever think of how it would tear apart their children?

We tried to make it up to her with extra midnight swims, coral reef tag, and several races from shore and Mako. After about a week, her spirits were soaring once again.

We decided that the Moonpool got way too crowded with six mermaids clustering in it, so either some of us stayed on land, or we split up into our two little groups. If we all did manage to squeeze inside the Moonpool, then we had to hover in a vertical position, lining the walls. It simply wasn't big enough. I didn't see how we would manage it at all once our fourth arrival came.

She arrived right on schedule. It was the morning of the full moon. I got the same shuddering feeling as when Savannah arrived. This time, all of us girls felt it.

"She must be some new arrival," Chloe muttered.

"Evidently, if she made us feel a quake like that."

"Well, we'd better go seek her out," Chloe, our group's new unofficial leader stated. I agreed. The sooner we found her, the better. So the others bid us goodbye and good luck and went to meet Lewis at the JuiceNet.

We decided to check the beach first, and if we saw no one out of the ordinary, we would meet up with the others at the JuiceNet. Chloe directed me towards the open beach, Savannah for the farther out tide pools, and she herself planned to watch along the rocky cliffs and outcroppings. We would meet back in the secluded tide pools in half of an hour.

I instantly eliminated everyone playing around in the water. I briefly considered the heads bobbing far out in the water, but I doubted anyone would be so reckless with a secret like ours. I focused my attention on the people here on the shore with me, about my age that seemed intent on avoiding the water. I thought I came close with one girl, but I dismissed her when she asked if I wanted to go for a swim. I finally had to resign and meet back at the tide pool.

We walked along the maze of rock sided pools and the tall, rocky veins together. We were heading back to the boardwalk the long way. We discussed where we would search if the JuiceNet plan failed. Savannah suggested the park, but I argued that the Moonpool would probably attract newcomers itself. Chloe made a smart remark about the first time we met when I yanked her into the water. I returned the comment by reminding her that she pushed me first. We all got a hearty laugh out of that one. I smiled contently from reliving those memories.

"There you lot are," a voice called from behind us. We whirled around in perfect unison. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" A tall, slim girl about my age stood on top of a particularly large rock outcropping towering above us. She grinned down, as if in triumph.

Her skin was very pale, like porcelain. Her hair was black and wavy and reached far down, nearly to her waist. Her eyes were a stunning blue-green in comparison.

She was wearing a long, slightly translucent creamy top that complimented her matching skin tone. She wore very short, denim shorts that were practically swallowed up by her top.

"A week," she went on. "A whole week I've been searching for you three. Where've you been hiding yourselves away?"

"Who are you?" I squeaked.

"Don't you recognize me?" She looked sincerely confused and worried. We looked between ourselves, wondering if someone had a long lost friend.

"Again, what's you're name?"

"Stop playing around." She looked slightly panicked.

"A name helps," Savannah prompted. I almost laughed. She usually left the sarcasm up to Chloe.

"You know my name, Savannah Ryans. We've all known each other for five years!" We again looked between ourselves. I truly didn't recognize this girl.

"Do I dare ask again for a name?"

"Chloe, you know me. You too, Caroline Jessica Price."

"HEY!" I thundered. _No one_ called me by my full name except for my mother when I was in serious trouble, but there was no stopping that. "Okay, I am officially freaked out now," I stated. I never told anyone my full name. How did she know?

"Me too; Caroline Jessica Price does NOT fit you." I growled, and looked about ready to strangle that girl. The girl just grinned at me in reply.

"You really don't remember me?" the girl fretted.

"Nope. Never seen you before."

"It's me, Cora! Cora Dewitt. Silver, we're best friends!"

"In your world, maybe," Savannah muttered under her breath. I was thankful that this Cora character hadn't heard. She jumped down from the rock, her big entrance ruined.

"Chloe, it's me!" she pleaded.

"I really don't recognize you," Chloe shrugged.

"Savannah, you wouldn't lie to me."

"I don't know you."

"We were all best friends! We went to the Moonpool everyday after school. We even skipped school, sometimes!"

"That means you're a-"

"Mermaid, yes!"

"Found her," I muttered sarcastically. Chloe gave me a look. It was my turn to grin halfheartedly back at her.

"You sing to the moon every full moon, right?" Cora confirmed. We nodded.

"Tonight is a full moon?"

"Yes."

"I can prove it to you tonight, then. That we're all mermaids." Chloe snorted.

"We could prove that to you right now."

"But our song! I can prove that much. I have my portion of our song memorized."

"We haven't sung any more songs, yet."

"You will tonight, I think."

"We should probably talk somewhere more private," I suggested, noticing a figure forming on the ridge of the cliff ahead of us. Cora turned to see someone's silhouette coming to investigate.

"The Moonpool," we all stated at once. I looked at Cora strangely but shrugged it off.

We all took off for the water ahead. I had just gotten into the deeper parts of the water when I felt my tail start to form. I ducked down deep under the water until I was brushing the ocean bottom so there was no chance of anyone seeing me.

I formed an air bubble just ahead of me, and took a breath as I passed through it so that my gills would kick in. I still wasn't sure why they didn't work to begin with. Just another mermaid quirk, I guess.

I looked over to see the small, frail figure of Savannah catching up to me, her long, muscular, golden, spotted tail streaming out behind her. Chloe was pulling up just ahead of her. I moved slowly through the water as I strained to see past Chloe and make sure that Cora was keeping up. I was astonished at what I saw.

Cora Dewitt had a tail like none that I had ever seen. Not only was her color unusual, but her whole tail structure was unique. It was sea foam green, but unlike our thick, muscular tails, her tail was long, slim, smooth and wiry. _Built for agility_, I noted, _while we, on the other hand, were speed demons_. Even her fluke was new. It fanned out behind her like a dolphin tail, only thicker and better for steering.

Cora looked us over with an equal amount of shock along her face. I shrugged it off and shot like a bullet in the direction of the Moonpool. I realized about halfway there that though Cora was fast, her tail's build was no match for us. Impatient Chloe circled back around and practically dragged her along behind until we reached the pool.

"Start from the beginning," Chloe ordered.

"I was at the Moonpool," she began, "Not this one, but the one on Orm. It was the full moon, and I was going to speak to Luna. The crystal lit up, and there was a flash of light from it, but that's all I remember. Then I was back on Earth, and I spent a week trying to find you all. You weren't at your old homes."

"Whoa, back up. Translated into English, that means…"

"What do you mean?"

"'On Orm?' 'Speak to Luna?' 'Crystal?' Were you not on Earth? Back up."

"Don't you know what Orm, Gitu, Dray and Take are?" We shook our heads. Cora's eyes got big. "Oh, snap."

"What?"

"If what I think is going on is really going on, then I can't tell you. Too much foreknowledge could ruin everything."

"Foreknowledge? Is that like in the TV show Doctor Who where his wife, River Song is traveling back in time and knows about his future? Spoilers?"

"I have never seen that show before and have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but yes, it sounds a bit similar," Cora spoke. "Listen, I can't tell you anything until the full moon tonight. Meet me here at midnight. Bring your older sister, too, Savannah." She ducked back under the water and left us at that.

"How could she know about Taylor?" Savannah screeched. Her eyes were wild. Hadn't she kept her secret?

"She knows more than she's telling," I soothed. Savannah was quite touchy on the subject of her beloved older sister.

"That was weird," Chloe commented once she'd left. I snorted.

"Who's she to tell us what to do?" That bonding link of trust wasn't connecting Cora and me.

"Well, let's give it a shot and see what happens," Chloe sighed.

"It couldn't hurt," Savannah agreed, finally calmed down. I sighed, defeated. I suppose I was just a bit uneasy. I was used to Chloe being the head of our group, but now some stranger waltzes in, claiming to know us all, called me by my full name, and starts ordering us around. (Well, it wasn't really as bad as I made it sound.)

"Be here tonight for the full moon?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Yeah, sure."

"See you here tonight. Oh, and try not to get moon blinked."

"Lewis said the moon rises at precisely 8:37 tonight. I'll see what I can do."

"Great. See you tonight!"

I sighed before I took another gulp of air and dove down. I had nothing more to do with myself for the rest of the evening.

I decided to meet up with the rest of the girls at Emma's house. Lewis was trying to figure out whether planetary alignment and the moon's gravitational pull had something to do with their powers. I was bored.

The girls finally decided to leave. It was about seven thirty; I still had another hour until I had to leave.

"Hey, Emma, do you have a pencil I could use?" I called. There was no answer. "Emma?" I craned my neck back so that I could see what was going on behind the sofa I was stretched out on. "Oh snazzlefrazz," I muttered. All three girls were standing in the doorway with a bluish glow reflecting off of their skin. The moon had already risen.

"Hey Brainiac," I boomed, coming down hard right on Lewis's desk. He looked up with a start. "Now that I have your attention," I growled irritably, "I think you're timing's a bit off." Lewis checked his watch.

"It's right. It's seven thirty two. We still have an hour to go."

"Oh really? Why don't you tell that to them?" Lewis looked around for the girls. They were nowhere to be found. He checked his new computer program again.

"Oh, I get it. This is Korean software, so it's on Korean time. That means we're about an hour faster." He checked his watch again, and his face fell. I raised my eyebrows as he realized what'd happened. "Oh, no."

"Oh yes," I corrected.

"Stay here," he demanded, chasing after the escapees.

"No way!" I screeched, not realizing what he meant. In my state of fury, I'd forgotten that I too could fall victim to the moon's hypnotic effect. I burst out after him in time to see the girls diving into the water. Lewis held his hands to the back of his head.

"I'll get them," I offered, about to chase them.

"I told you to stay inside."

"And I didn't listen."

"Wait." He stopped me before I could dive into the water. "The moon hasn't affected you." I realized with a start he was right. I looked up at the big white orb, and back at him. I didn't have time to ponder it yet.

"No time. We've got to get them back," I called. The last of my words were muffled by water as I dove in. He took off to find his boat.

I followed the fading streams of bubbles to the Moonpool. My group was already there. The moon blinked girls had not yet arrived. I beat them here.

"Why didn't the moon affect us?" asked Chloe when I arrived.

"I don't know, but it sure affected them," I pointed out. The others were just arriving.

"Now, Cora, what's all this about foreknowledge and spoilers?"

"You'll find out in a minute, I think." The water began to bubble around us as the moon came into view overhead.

"Two types of mermaids equal two different effects," I realized.

Something caught my eye from below me, and I looked down. The silver eggs were hatching! Not only that, but I could see other clusters of golden, bronze and several others of various colors, all with a pearly luster to them. I turned around, and a mass of wyrms had collected. They were streaming in and collecting. They looked at us expectantly. The silver ones seemed drawn to me, the pink-bronze ones to Chloe, the gold ones to Savannah, and the green pearly ones to Cora.

Cora looked up at the moon, but her eyes were the only ones that fogged. She perched on the ledge. Her eyes weren't a normal fog, though. Her entire eye, not just the pupil, had changed, and it wasn't a misty gray either. It was more of a glowing pink-orange.

"My children," she sang, a smile appearing on her face. This wasn't Cora talking, I realized. Something was speaking through her. "The time has come."

"Time for what?" Chloe demanded.

"The time to go home."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Indimeri, but you may call me Luna."

"Are you the moon?"

"In a way, yes," she smiled. "I am a being of consciousness. I was imprisoned in your Earth's moon years ago during a time of Great War."

"And you need us to free you?"

"No, not at all," she laughed. "I cannot be freed. My small friends, though, can." Sylvie, Leema and George appeared along with another small lizard. I assumed he was Cora's, since his pelt matched her tail.

"Our lizards?"

"They are sea wyrms, but yes. They too were ripped from their homes during the time of the war. They are all subspecies of wyrm; they are related. I have granted each of you the job of caring for each breed."

"We never asked for that!" The being speaking through Cora frowned.

"I realize I have thrown the burden upon you. If you wish, I will find another caretaker. However, you are the best choices I have managed to find."

"What about them?" I jutted a finger over to the moon blinked girls.

"They are a result of a natural phenomenon your moon formed. I only took the moon's ability and the sea wyrms' biological pattern to mold you into Merlins."

"I wrote about creatures called that in my book!"

"That word was implanted into your mind by natural means," she explained. "The merlins you conjured are not quite like my species."

"You're a merlin?"

"I was, once, before our bodies were destroyed. Then we became creatures of pure consciousness alone."

"I still don't understand a few things. What do you want us to do?"

"I must request that you take the sea wyrms home."

"Where is that?"

"Gitu is the star of the silver wyrms, Dray is the star of the golden wyrms, Taek is the star of the bronze wyrms, and Orm is the star of the pearl wyrms."

"Take is a star?"

"It is not of the same spelling," Indimeri smiled.

"All that time I thought I was on to something," I muttered. She grinned even wider.

"Hold on. Where does Cora Dewitt come into play?" Again, Luna frowned.

"I had to pull this young girl from a parallel world to complete your mission," she explained. "Your Cora Dewitt's path was mottled. She was not destined to arrive at the Gold Coast. She was summoned elsewhere. Your Cora waits for you to show you to your homes. However, I needed the same girls in the same spot, so I pulled this Cora from her time frame in a parallel world to help you the last lengths of the trip."

"Now this is really sounding like Doctor who."

"How can we take the wyrms home, though? And what do the songs have to do with anything, or are they just another 'side effect?'"

"The songs sung at the right time create the rift along which you may travel to bring them home," she explained. "Tonight, the planets are perfectly aligned. You must sing them now, and take the sea wyrms home!"

"Can we come back?"

"You must sing! Hurry!"

"But-"

"Please, sing!" Cora began to sing, and instinctively, we began to join in. We didn't know what to sing, but we did.

"We sing to the moon

And to the stars only we can see.

We live on the land

And swim through the waters

And soar amongst the skies

And sing at night.

Each paired with a sea wyrm

To bring them home

And restore the balance." A bright, blue light formed high the wall of the Moonpool. Luna smiled through Cora.

"Thank you. Now go! Bring your wyrms home!"

"Can we come back?"

"If you wish it." I nodded, satisfied. Cora led the way through the light with what appeared to be a portal. The sea wyrms chirped and cheered excitedly. Cora sprouted large, full wings, emerald in color to contrast with her thick black head of hair. Cora led the way through, and the pearly sea wyrms followed, trying to drag their unhatched eggs and newborn young in behind them. Chloe went next, her lizards coming in after her.

Lewis had just arrived and was completely oblivious to what was going on around him. He was trying to convince the girls to go home. Something went terribly wrong, though. The girls seemed to have new powers, for Cleo managed to lift him up into the air with… wind? and tossed him out the top of the volcano. Oh, no. A fall like that could be fatal.

I leapt up out of the water, my wings growing quickly and working hard to pull me, tail and all, up into the air. Cleo's wind tunnel helped a great deal. I appeared outside in the middle of a hurricane.

I looked around, and noticed Lewis's flailing body hurtling towards the ground. I dove after him, and caught his arm. I lowered him to the ground before any real harm could come to him.

"Silver? You have _wings_?" I shook my head and flew off, back into the tunnel and through the portal, a newly congregated mass of silver sea wyrms like Sylvie following after me. I emerged into a bright light…


	17. Chapter 18: The Choice

**A/N: Extremely long, but what do you expect for the last chapter? (A lot of dialogue.) LAST CHAPTER, PEOPLE! THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! (Might make a sequel, depending on how popular it is.)**

**CREDIT: All H2O characters are not mine, nor are the episodes this story was based on. Cora Dewitt and Momo characters belong to user Living Like a Loco. Thanks to her for letting me use them. **

**Chapter 18**

**The Choice**

I emerged into a bright light. I shielded my eyes from the glaring sun and looked around once my eyes had adjusted. We were in the middle of open ocean.

"But… it was night!" I glanced over at Cora, and noticed that her eyes were still flashing.

"Here, you are on a different time frame."

"You still have a lot of explaining to do." Chloe pointed an accusing finger at Cora. Cora/Luna only smiled.

"Of course. I will be happy to answer all of your questions."

"Let's start simple. Where are we?"

"The stars that only you can see," Cora/Luna began. "They are not really stars. They only define the four corners of this planet."

"We're not on Earth?" The color drained from Savannah's face.

"No," Cora/Luna said gently.

"Then where are we?"

"This planet has no name."

"It must have a name," Chloe insisted, throwing her hands up and letting them slap back onto the water's surface.

"You are quite right," Cora laughed. "I considered calling this place Merlein after my home world, but that name is no longer fitting." Her glowing eyes clouded with sadness with the memories of her lost home.

"Then we'll call it New Merlein in its honor," Chloe declared as-a-matter-of-factly. Cora smiled sincerely.

"Thank you, Chloe."

"Wait a minute. If we could see the four corners of the planet from Earth, then why hasn't anyone noticed it?"

"I have hidden it within the moon's gravitational field and masked it with a complex chemical my people created called Tsian. That hides it from sensors or satellites. No one but you knows about it. No one will find you."

"I have another question. Two of the songs spoke of 'restoring the balance.' What balance?"

"These sea wyrms need caring, as does this planet. Only when they have caretakers can the balance be restored." I dreaded the answer to my next question.

"Well, we did what you asked; we brought the sea wyrms home. Can we go back now?" Cora/Luna raised her chin.

"You may. However, I ask that you stay. The sea wyrms still need caretakers. This used to be the job of my people before our home was destroyed. Try this sort of life for one week. That is all I ask."

"What about our parents?"

"I have a baby brother to look after!"

"Please, just one week."

"I have responsibilities!"

"We never even got to say goodbye." Cora's eyes clouded with sympathy.

"In one week, the full moon will rise here, and a rift will open. You will be able to talk to your families through it."

"You mean we don't have a choice? We _have_ to wait a week?"

"No. I can send you back at any time. The rift will not take you home; it will only allow your consciousness in a temporary body to visit your families and say a few words without your real bodies ever leaving."

"What?" My jaw dropped. I had no idea what she'd just said.

"I'm staying." Chloe and I both whirled on Savannah. She wanted to _stay_?

"WHAT?"

"I said I wanted to stay. I'll try it for the week, anyway."

"What about your parents?"

"They haven't been the same since Taylor died. She's the whole reason we moved here in the first place. They couldn't stand it anymore. They wouldn't notice if I left. Taylor was always their favorite."

"I thought the same of my mother. I was moon blinked once, and stayed out the whole night. Mom just about flipped."

"All the same, I want to stay. It's what Taylor would want. She would never have passed up an opportunity like this. It has to be a better life than what I had. I'd be making something of myself."

"We wouldn't have school anymore. That bit is kind of tempting," Chloe reasoned. I hoped she was only joking.

"You aren't thinking about staying too, are you? What about Tom, your brother?" Chloe adored her twin brother, Tom Hart. They were inseparable.

"I never said that I wanted to stay permanently. It just might be fun to try. We have a week, after all."

"But what about Tom? He'll be worried sick!"

"He can get on without me for a week." Her eyes clouded, though, remembering the fondness she had developed for her brother.

"Our parents will want to know what's become of us. What will we tell them?"

"Us? Have you finally caved in, too?"

"Well, I can't exactly leave you two knuckleheads here by yourself, can I? Who knows what kind of trouble you'll get into?"

"Who, us? Never!" I splashed her playfully.

"Seriously though, what would we tell them?"

"I for one have made up my mind. When I see Tom again, I'm going to tell Tom everything. Tails and all."

"WHAT?"

"Silver, we've never kept secrets. And you're right; they will wonder. Tom would never tell. He'll come up with something to cover for us."

"Can you be sure?"

"It's Tom! We know everything about each other."

"He doesn't know you're a mermaid," I pointed out.

"Yet," she finished.

"Silver, it's only for a week. We'll have come up with something by then."

"I must remind you of the time differential," Cora/Luna cut in.

"What of it?"

"Time sometimes passes faster on Earth, though it is larger of the two planets. A side effect of the Tsian, I'm afraid."

"So a week for us could be longer for them?" Cora nodded solemnly.

"How much longer? A month? A year?"

"The time differences are not constant. I cannot be sure."

"That's a gutsy move."

"One I'm willing to take."

"Now really, Savannah, be reasonable."

"I'm staying."

"I'll try it too. I don't care if I'm here for ten Earth years."

"Chloe-"

"Oh, Silver, give it up already! Our minds are made up. What about you?" I grunted in frustration. I knew I'd been defeated.

"Oh, for the sirens' sake! Fine, I'll stay as well." Cora/Luna beamed.

"In one week's time, I will return you if you still wish it. However, you may find that you like it here and decide to stay." She began to swim away.

"Wait!" Cora/Luna turned. "What about Cora?"

"This Cora must be returned to her time stream in her world. This is a task to be carried out at her Moonpool. However, your Cora is here waiting for you. She has lived here for a long time in advance. She will be grateful for the company."

"She's lived here all alone?"

"No. She lives in your world most of the time, but carries out her duties here was well, as I have given her the ability to travel between worlds."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"What if we want to go back before the week is over?"

"Then I will send you." I nodded, finally satisfied.

"One week," I promised.

"You will find shelter at each of your Moonpools. There is pretty of fresh fruit to be harvested upon the land of the islands there as well."

"We each have our own?"

"The stars at each corner of the planet are reflections of light off of the wyrms eggs laid at each of the Moonpools."

"So those stars point out where each of the Moonpools are?"

"Yes."

"If they are each at the four corners of the planet, though, then are we going to be apart all of the time?"

"I created this planet with a piece of the moon, part of my living consciousness and a good deal of you're Earth's water and land. The circumference of this planet is a little more than twenty miles. The Moonpools are only about five miles apart. With your tail builds, you do not have a long trip. Cora will have the hardest trip, since her tail is different. However, even she can travel the perimeter of the whole planet several times over with ease."

"Just twenty miles? That's not nearly big enough to be considered a planet!"

"This place sustains life. That is planet enough for me." I couldn't help but laugh. Cora smiled as well, and ducked under the water before be could as any more questions.

"Now what?"

"Well, I suggest we go find our Moonpools. Luna said that we could find food there. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

"Which way should we start?" Chloe shrugged.

"This way, I guess. It's only twenty miles around. A dolphin swims from 40 to 100 miles a day on average, and we can go even farther. It can't be that far." She turned around and began paddling. I followed her at a leisurely, comfortable pace. What was the rush?

Sylvie poked her head out of a coral maze and let out a stream of bubbles that tickled my belly from bellow. I looked down to see her.

"Sylvie!" I gurgled, diving down. I was never so happy to see her! She swam up to meet me halfway, and I held her close until she squirmed to get away.

She started off in another direction.

"Hey, get back here," I demanded. Of course she didn't listen. She never does. I rolled my eyes and started after her. She was quick, and dodged every grab I made for her. Once my hand brushed her tail, which was too close for comfort for her. With that, she took to the air, out of my reach. "Oh, so that's how you want to play it? Alright." I grinned, and concentrated on my wings. The crunching noise was muffled by the water, so it wasn't as bad. I spread them, and leapt out of the water.

I chased Sylvie through the air, my hair and tail still dripping with water. I was glad to be able to fly freely without worrying about anyone seeing me. As I looked around, I noticed that as far as I could see, there was nothing but open ocean. I spotted a tiny speck in the distance. I'll bet that's one of the Moonpools, I thought as I finally grabbed Sylvie. I laughed as we toppled back into the water.

"Who're you?" I whirled with a gasp of surprise at the voice. It was Cora, our Cora. I smiled.

"You must be Cora."

"How do you know my name? Where did you come from?"

"Long story. I'm Silver. This is Sylvie." The sea wyrm perched on my shoulder and puffed out her chest with pride.

"You're like me," she noted aloud, looking down at my tail. "It's different than the average mermaid, but it's not like mine."

"I meant to ask Luna about that," I commented.

"Luna brought you?"

"Yep. Me and two others."

"Where are they?" Cora's eyes shone brightly with delight. I turned around, expecting them to be behind me. They hadn't followed. Whoops.

"Well, somewhere." Cora laughed with a little shrug, understanding. "We were looking for the Moonpools. Do you by any chance know where they are?" She nodded.

"I've been visiting here for five years. I know every inch of this place."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Could you by any chance take me?"

"Sure," she shrugged. She started off in the direction of the speck. "I have to go pick up Momo first. He's probably wondering what's taking so long, by now."

"That's your sea wyrm?" She nodded. "Love the name." She only grinned and let the way. I noticed how elegantly her fluke curved when she dove down. I wondered if my tail looked as pretty as that.

_Stop it_, I told myself. _You're comparing yourself again_. I had issues with my looks, especially since I received those scars. I shook my head and dove after her. I couldn't help but notice I was a bit more careful about my poise when I ducked under, though. It was foolish, really, when I thought about it. I mean, who was there to watch?

I hurried to catch up with Cora. Her gaze flicked over to me with a mischievous glint to them. Suddenly, she beat her tail up and down as fast as she could, shooting bubbles in my face. I laughed, releasing bubbles into the water and took off after her. She was no match for me, but she had a head start which made it a bit harder to catch up.

I realized with a start that I would crash into the rocky entrance to the Moonpool. I acted on instinct. I pulled up sharply out of the water in a massive burst of water. I whooped with the thrill of the jump. I collapsed heavily back into the water as my tail weighed a ton. I dove back down to meet Cora, the winner, in the Moonpool. We grinned back at each other. I shrugged off my loss.

A small, frilly sea wyrm just a shade darker than Cora's tail with emerald and black-edged fins spiraled down from a cleft in the volcano. I assumed he was Momo. I looked around. It didn't look at all like the Mako Moonpool. I mean, there was the same basic shape, but it was much deeper into the back, and many shelves had been formed in the rock. It looked comfortable and… homey.

There were sea foam colored eggs all over the cave, as well as a few other assorted colors. However, all of the eggs had the same pearly luster to them. I noticed that our tails and eggs were almost backwards. Chloe and Savannah's tails as well as mine were more pearly than metallic. However, Cora's tail was more metallic than her wyrms were. I thought it odd, but I made no comment.

Cora set down a small basket I hadn't noticed before and stroked her wyrm as he came down on her shoulders.

"Ready," she called, slipping back into the water from the ledge. I ducked back under. I wondered what my pool would be like. I guessed I would know it when I saw it. Plus, the silver wyrm eggs would probably give it away.

Cora led the way east of her pool in the direction of the next nearest. I had fun racing her again, all while admiring the beauty of this place. There were coral beds everywhere, and sea life of all sorts taken from Earth inhabited them. I twirled playfully in the water as I went, brushing sea plants as I went. I spurted bubbles of laughter as I disrupted the crabs and startled the fish. Cora soon joined me, doing tight flips and loops with her agile tail. We were getting on just fine. I could tell that although the bond hadn't clicked with the first Cora, I would make a friend of this one.

After much delay, we finally made it to the next Moonpool. I surfaced inside, and looked around. I couldn't believe my luck. There were silver eggs everywhere. From movies, I'd expected to find mine last, since that always seems to be the case. Sylvie spiraled down from the top.

"Is this it, girl?" She chirped excitedly in reply. I stroked her wings back with a laugh and pulled myself out.

"I guess this one is yours," Cora commented.

"Must be, with all of the silver eggs." She shrugged casually. I dried myself off, feeling the heat sting my tender blue, striped scales. I felt my tail turning liquid and separating into legs. I stood and brushed the sand off of my jeans. I looked around.

This cave was very deep in the back, but with a low ceiling. I didn't mind that one bit. I liked feeling safe and enclosed. The floor was sandy, and eggs were scattered everywhere. I didn't dare go walking around for fear of stepping on one. The floor was absolutely littered! It didn't look as homey as Cora's as of yet, but she had had 5 years to decorate and live in hers. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but my whole body tingled with excitement. I had always dreamt of what my first house to call my own would look like. I never imagined it would turn out to be a cave! I almost laughed at the idea.

Chloe and Savannah surfaced next to Cora.

"There you are!" Chloe burst. "You ran off!"

"Correction: Sylvie ran off."

"You must be Cora," Savannah began shyly.

"Everyone seems to know me, but I don't know any of you," Cora laughed good naturedly.

"I'm Savannah Ryans."

"I'm Chloe Hart." Their wyrms paddled into the pool as well.

"This is my sea wyrm, Leema, and that's Savannah's wyrm called George."

"Love the name," Cora commented with a wide smile.

"It suits him," Savannah protested.

"I didn't mean anything bad by it. Mine's named Momo." Savannah giggled at the name.

"I guess you found your Moonpool," Chloe commented.

"Guess so."

"We found mine. It's a lot like this one, and not so far from here."

"Well, Luna did say they were only about five miles apart."

"That just leaves Savannah's."

"The one filled with the golden eggs?" Savannah nodded. "I know where it is. Follow me." The girls followed Cora out, and I did a cannonball back into the water after them.

It took a little longer to find hers, since it was the farthest away. We passed Chloe's on the way, and I decided to make a quick pit stop there to have a peek while the others continued on. It was a lot like my own, but a bit more open like Cora's. It was much bigger than Mako's, but smaller than the wide perimeter of mine. I guess the open space made up for that, though. I hurried to catch up with the others.

For a while there, I thought I lost them, so I took to the air. I had a much better bird's-eye-view, and easily made out their moving shapes about a half of a mile ahead. The going was faster through the air, so I curled my wings and dropped through open air to their position.

Chloe was in the perfect position. What could I say? I couldn't resist. I caught Chloe in a flying tackle as I came down on top of her. She resurfaced, gasping for air. When she realized what'd happened, she burst out in hysterics. Soon, we were all holding onto each other for support through our laughter.

"Hurry up, it's not much farther," Cora giggled.

"I think I see it, Chloe called five minutes later. I squinted to see the small speck of an island poking out of the water in the distance. Chloe took off, eager for a rest. I zipped after her, dragging Savannah behind me, who in turn was towing Cora.

Chloe was the first one out, and I was right behind her. I was used to the ten mile races from Mako to the shore and back, but we'd just traveled some 20+ miles around the whole planet.

I flopped onto the sand and dried my tender scales gingerly. Even for a mermaid, my skin was beginning to grow scales: the human equivalent to becoming a prune. Once I was dry, I helped Cora out of the water as Chloe was helping Savannah. Only then did I look around.

This pool was the most like Mako, besides all of the eggs. It was just a little bigger with two enormous, room-sized air bubble extensions jutting out on either side.

"I wonder what the rooms are for," Chloe wondered.

"It's not unusual. I have rooms jutting out, too. You just can't see them because they tunnel out through small cracks."

"You really do know every inch of this place, don't you?"

"Not really. I haven't thoroughly investigated your Moonpools or anything."

"Why not?"

"They weren't mine to be poking around in."

"But how could you resist," Chloe grinned. I knew she couldn't stay out of trouble to save her life. Cora shrugged.

"I'm hungry," Savannah interrupted.

"Luna said there's food here."

"Up on the surface of each island," Cora confirmed.

"Let's go."

"So long as Savannah doesn't mind. This is _her_ Moonpool and therefore _her_ food," Cora reminded. Savannah blushed shyly.

"I don't mind," she assured. We were all dry, so we trudged out of the land entrance and clambered up the steep slope onto land. Cora took the lead since she was the most familiar with these islands. There were a few banana trees, but most of them were mango groves. I would take mangoes over bananas any day, so I harvested two of them and met the girls back in the Moonpool. That is, Savannah's Moonpool.

We discussed some things over fruit, and got to know Cora a bit better.

"So what's your power?" Chloe asked before taking another bite of her unusually crunchy mango.

"I have a few powers," Cora began. "I can freeze water, boil it, move and create it, turn it to jelly-"

"And grow wings," Chloe finished.

"Right, but there's still two more."

"Two more? We each have all of those powers and one more."

"Well, I can talk to animals, and I can turn into water."

"Like during the transformation?"

"No, anytime. See?" With that, she set down her mango and closed her eyes. Suddenly, Cora vanished, and a large puddle of water lay in her place.

"Whoa!" Chloe jumped up in surprise. Then, Cora was back, grinning slyly.

"That's awesome," I said instinctively.

"Luna said you had the company of the sea wyrms, but I didn't know that meant you could talk to them!"

"Sure."

"What's Sylvie saying right now?" I asked, gesturing to my sea wyrm by the pool. Cora listened for a moment, and a slight grin appeared on her face.

"Nothing interesting." I could tell she was lying. _Probably keeping me from strangling her_, I thought.

"So what do you _do_ here?"

"My job- er, _our_ job- is to raise the sea wyrm young and keep their eggs safe from predators. That's why there are so many eggs out of the water, in the Moonpools. They're safe on land."

"What kind of predators?"

"Mostly eels. There's dozens of them around here. Something's different here that makes them breed like rabbits. Anyway, we keep them safe in their designated regions on the mainland."

"What in the ocean does that mean?"

"It means that each breed of wyrm has their own area. For instance, my pearl wyrms like it in the deeper, murky water. Their pearly luster keeps them hidden down there, but just reflective enough for me to find. Your silver wyrms, Silver, like the rocky cliffs just off of the main coast. Chloe's bronze wyrms prefer to dig up sand and lay their eggs under the rocky shores of the Bronze Bay. And Savannah's, well, they take up the main coast. A.K.A. the Gold Coast."

"But that's where we lived before!"

"No, that place was named after all of the gold wyrms centuries ago, before the wyrms learned to cloak themselves. Only the gold ones lived there back then."

"You're joking!"

"No," Cora grinned. "True story, according to Luna."

"Wait a minute. If I have the bay, then why do I need such big wings? Shouldn't Silver get big wings like mine to fly around the cliffs?"

"Yes, you're biological patterns got a bit mixed up. Sorry about that."

"Wasn't your fault," I stated, finishing off my second mango. "Besides, I can fly around just fine."

"Well, it kind of was my fault. Luna did most of the work through me."

"Really?"

"Of course! A consciousness can't do much without a body. She'd need arms for that."

"True enough." Chloe looked up through the top of the volcano. "It's getting late. Where are we going to sleep?"

"I sleep in my Moonpool. It's kind of soothing there. It makes you feel safe."

"Sleep by ourselves in a strange place, outdoors with little protection?" Savannah didn't like the idea. I couldn't blame her. Her pool was the farthest from us all, and we could easily get lost in these waters if we needed anything.

"Don't worry. We'll all meet back by morning. Say, my place?"

"Fine by me. What time?"

"Sometime before noon."

"We don't exactly have watches anymore, do we?"

"Noon is when the sun is at its peak."

"Do you think you can find your way back?"

"I think so. There were beautiful reefs surrounding my whole island. It can't be that hard to find."

"Well, if the perimeter of the planet is only 20 miles, then the formula for a sphere is four times pi times the radius squared, which would be roughly three miles, then plug that in… 4 times 3.14 gets you somewhere around 12.56, times that by 3 squared or nine… that gets you somewhere around 113 square miles."

"CHLOE!" I gasped. "You're SMART!"

"So?"

"So how come you always fail at school?"

"Oh, you're funny."

"You worked out the planet's surface area in under a minute, WITHOUT a calculator!"

"The point is, if dolphins swim 40-100 miles a day, then you might be swimming in circles all over the planet's surface and you'd never know."

"I'm sure I can find my way around. Some practice will help, but I'll get around." I slid into the water, ending our conversation.

Regardless of Chloe's warning, I managed to find my way back fairly quickly. It was dark by the time I arrived. The moon was rising, but it appeared to be enormous, for it was much closer now. I gaped there in the water in amazement for a while, for not only was the moon close, but I could see Earth in the distance. With a pang of homesickness, I wondered it Mom was frantically looking for me. Perhaps she had been searching for a week. I wouldn't know until a week had passed. I finally pulled myself away and entered the Moonpool. I made a sand bed for myself, and fell asleep instantly.

For the rest of that week, Cora showed us the ropes. We harvested eggs in make-shift baskets, and placed them safely around their native homes. I chased away several dozen eels in that short time, burning their ugly snouts when they threatened to electrocute me. Surprisingly, I fell in love with this kind of life. I could see why Cora loved it so much. We saved the lives of hundreds of little sea wyrms, ate fresh fruit, and had good laughs together along the beaches.

Occasionally, we would come across a shipwreck or two Luna placed here to keep things interesting. We salvaged the sails and other useful tools and turned them into masterpieces. Cora often dyed the sails and stitched them to make changes of clothes, and we learned to do the same. It was an amazing experience.

Finally, the week was up. I was torn. Part of me wanted to stay, but another half wanted to see Mom and little Nick again. I didn't have much time to ponder, either. When the full moon rose, I would have to make my decision. We all gathered on the Bronze Bay to discuss it.

"What're you going to do?" Chloe asked to none of us in particular.

"I'm staying. I love it here. I can't let it go," Savannah sighed. "I'll miss my parents, but I'll tell them what's happened through the rift tonight. They'll understand."

"What about you?" I asked Chloe. "Will you stay?"

"I don't know. Maybe Luna can give me some extra time to decide; time enough to talk it over with Tom through the rift." I nodded. She wouldn't say it, but her heart ached for her brother. They were closer than words could describe. "What about you?"

"I don't know. This place is amazing. I'm worried about Mom, though. She could barely handle the dogs herself, let alone baby Nick. And then there's the other girls, and Lewis."

"You came pretty close to them, huh?"

"Yeah. They accepted me when no one else would. They did their best to see past the scars, too." I flipped my hair back and ran a finger down the lumpy, knotted scar tissue. "Not many people even tried."

"Yeah." A wave of silence washed over us as we slowly walked along the shore. I looked up. It was just past noon.

"We'd better make up our minds, and quick," I sighed.

"Why does it have to be so hard?"

"I can travel back and fourth. Maybe Luna can do that for you too," Cora offered.

"Maybe." I didn't see how I could balance both lives, though. Caring for the baby wyrms and harvesting and protecting the eggs was an all day job. I had gotten used to being in the water most of the day, and I could swim for thirty to fifty miles without tiring easily.

"I'd miss Tom so much if I stayed," Chloe said, "but I'd miss this life too." Chloe was torn. I was astonished to look into her eyes and see tears forming. "It's not fair!" She kicked the sand in frustration, accidently uncovering a batch of eggs. With a sigh, she stooped down and recovered them.

"We can still talk to them through the rift."

"But we'll never really touch them again. Our real bodies would stay behind."

"It's a hard choice."

"Both worlds are a part of me now. This decision shapes the entire of the rest of our lives."

"I know." Again, we fell silent. Where did my destiny lie? I could stay here and make a difference, or I could go back and care for my family; I could lead a semi-normal life.

"If I had to make a choice, I'd have to stay," Chloe finally wept. "I don't see what that world has to offer me. Tom is there, but the wyrms are here. I can't choose which is more important. I'll always miss Tom, and Luna is kind enough. She'll take me back to see him occasionally if I beg her." I couldn't go back when Chloe had chosen this life over her beloved twin brother."

"I'm staying too," I finally sighed. "I'll convince Lewis to help Mom out whenever she really needs it."

"Do you think one of the girls could comfort my parents, too?" Chloe asked. I knew she really meant Tom, but couldn't leave her parents out.

"Emma'll do it. She wouldn't turn something like that down."

"Then that settles it, then."

"We're all staying."

"It was hard for me too," Cora said. "I made the right choice. My dad learned about my secret, and freaked out. For some reason, he could see Momo when I brought him home, and he finally let me keep him. He figured that he could train Momo like a cat, spraying him with water whenever he misbehaved. He accidently squirted me once, and I didn't have time to hide. After I left to come here, he kind of accepted it. I still visit him of course, but he got over it. If you're truthful with your parents, I'm sure they'll understand as well."

"You don't know my Mom."

"You don't, either." I stared at Cora with horror. What did she mean by that? "I didn't think Dad would accept it either, but what do you know? He calmed down once he got used to the idea. He didn't dare call a doctor. He was afraid I'd end up in some science lab, which might have really happened. Your Mom loves you too much to give you away. She won't have any choice but to accept it." This gave me something to chew on until the full moon rose.

We all gathered in Cora's Moonpool. We assumed it would be the most logical place for Luna to arrive. Sure enough, we were right.

"I trust you have made your decision?" A pink-orange light filled the pool, and the voice echoed eerily off of the walls. The voice sounded melodic, as if she was on the verge of singing.

"We want to stay. All of us." I could almost feel her smiling face.

"I thank you. I reward your decision with gifts. Chloe," the blue light focused intensely on her. "You sacrificed your bond with your brother for this life. I gift to you Tom's arrival."

"Don't bring him here!" Chloe begged. "I might be able to accept this sort of life, but Tom never would."

"You misunderstand," Luna laughed. "I have only enough power to grant one of you the ability to travel between worlds; Cora was gifted this ability. However, it takes much less power to gift the ability to a human rather than a mermaid."

"You mean he will be able to visit whenever he wants, and then go back?" Chloe's eyes shone with happiness."

"Yes. He will need training from Cora in order to learn how to do so, but with time he will have mastered the ability."

"Thank you." Chloe shed a tear of joy.

"Silver." The light moved onto me. "You put your life in danger to do what was right. You have been left with a reminder of this event."

"My scars?"

"Yes. You used your ability to save the boy- Zane Bennet. It was a noble act. You should not be punished with this deformity." The hair plastered to my face over my scars was gently brushed away by the light. The lumpy skin began to glow, the light becoming more intense by the second. Soon, it was emanating a bright, white, silvery light. Then it faded. I touched my fingertips to the skin, and gasped.

"Thank you," I said. The scars were gone.

"Savannah," she moved onto the last of us, her smile growing ever bigger. "You chose to stay because you believed it was what your sister would want you to do."

"She would never pass up an opportunity like this," Savannah firmly nodded.

"Why don't you take that up with her yourself?" The light widened out, and from it formed an older girl, probably in her late teens or beginning her twenties. She had long, silky red-blonde hair, just a shade darker than Savannah's. Her tail was the average orange, and she had no wings. Since she had formed out of the air, she dropped helplessly into the water without wings to catch her. She struggled back up to the surface, taking a full breath of air.

"Savannah?" the girl made out her younger sister's frail form. Savannah almost wilted with disbelief. She grabbed her sister and didn't let go. They floated in the water beside of us, weeping with joy. Luna's consciousness was about to burst with her pride.

"You see, your sister never really died. Like mine, her body was destroyed, but I saved her consciousness with me until this day. That is not her original body, but it will suffice." Savannah was too choked up to manage words, but her expression said it all. "There is a, as you would put it, a glitch in this arrangement," Luna continued. "She will never be able to go back to Earth with you. She must remain here for the rest of her days."

"Can't she at least say a proper goodbye to their parents through the rift?" Chloe asked.

"Of course." A crack of blue light split open the wall of the pool as if on cue. "Go now. Say your goodbyes. It will only last for one Earth day. Spend your time well." The light faded, and Luna went back to the moon.

"What are we waiting for?" Chloe burst. I turned to see Savannah and her sister Taylor smiling, still clinging to each other. Cora was grinning too. I couldn't help but smile myself. We all dove through the rift to see our families.

I appeared on the beach. I knew this place. It was right behind my house. I looked around. No one else was around. I guessed that the others had appeared where they needed to be.

I dusted myself off and began walking to the house. I had some serious explaining to do. I decided to tell Mom the truth about being a mermaid. After all, what was she going to do? This body would only be here for a day. I could tell it wasn't my own.

As I walked over the crest of the hill, I saw Mom with Nick approaching the girls and Lewis- hey, even Zane was there! -at a rapid pace. I guessed they had been recruited to help look for me. No one noticed me for a while until Lewis happened to look over Mom's shoulder. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but he interrupted them all with a shout and a point of the finger. Mom took off running. I just kept walking at a leisurely pace. I didn't feel like moving fast. Mom caught me in a bear hug, almost crushing Nick in the process. I felt her frantic tears of relief staining my shirt. No big deal. Tears didn't transform me.

"Don't crush Nick," I laughed, taking my baby brother in my own arms.

"Where have you been?"

"Long story," I smiled. The others jogged up as well. I was swarmed with questions. I only laughed, silencing them. Zane looked kind of embarrassed and out of place, however, he triggered my explanation.

"You're scars are gone!" he pointed. Mom brushed aside my hair and almost collapsed in another fit of joyful hysterics.

"Yeah," I beamed.

"But how?" Mom sobbed.

"Long story," I said again. "We need to have a long talk." I walked Mom inside the house, and driven by curiosity, the others followed. Well, all but Zane. He took the opportunity to slip away. I couldn't blame him. He didn't look right here.

I got comfortable in this new body on the couch and dove into my story. Mom stopped me halfway through, calling me a liar and saying that mermaids didn't exist. I proved her wrong by displaying my powers and my tail, much to the others' dismay. Mom shut up and listened, dumfounded, for the rest of the time. I explained in a rush the events of the past week. Fortunately, no more time had passed here.

By the end of my story, Mom was too mixed up inside. She didn't know what to think. She excused herself to her bedroom. That wasn't good. She was a work-a-holic. She never rested until all the work was done, which was never before bedtime. When she was gone, I was bombarded by questions from the others. I did my best to answer them until I convinced them to go along with it. Only then did I relay Chloe's request to Emma. She readily agreed. It took a little more persuasion to get Lewis to go along with my idea, especially since he didn't like dogs. Cleo thought it was a good idea, and volunteered herself to help in between work.

I spent the rest of that day with my friends. I didn't see Chloe or Savannah or Cora, but I would be spending much of my life with them, so it didn't really matter. By the end of that day, I learned that I still had a place in Mom's heart, and that I had a home there whenever I came back to visit. I promised her visits every full moon and maybe a few surprise ones. She joked that she would have to have the house clean all the time for me. I left her a hardened gel pendant to remember me by. I slept in my old room that night, kept pristinely clean by Mom.

I met the others back in my front lawn that morning, which gave us only time enough to hug and exchange goodbyes for one last time. Even the boy, Lewis, accepted a farewell hug. I waved one more time. I knew this body was about to expire. With that, it faded into dust, and I woke back up in the Moonpool. I breathed in the salty sea air. This was my life now. I looked around at the waking others. _No, this is our life now_. There was no turning back.

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I'LL PUT UP A POLL AND IF I HAVE ENOUGH VOTES, I'LL WRITE BOOK 2. **


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